Stars at Hurricanes
The Dallas Stars are attempting to maintain their tenuous hold on the final postseason slot in the Western Conference but they will have to get past a team desperately trying to stay in the playoff chase when they visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. The Stars have won three in a row and kicked off their five-game road trip with impressive victories at St. Louis and Washington. Dallas is deadlocked with Phoenix for the second wild card but has two games in hand on the Coyotes.
The odds of making the postseason do not favor the Hurricanes, who are six points behind Columbus for the second wild card in the East and also trail four other teams. Carolina displayed the determination of a team with no margin for error by scoring four unanswered goals in Tuesday's 4-1 victory at Metropolitan Division-leading Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes have had major issues with the Stars, losing four straight and six of the last seven meetings - including a 4-1 defeat at Dallas on Feb. 27.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSSW (Dallas), FSN Carolina
ABOUT THE STARS (37-27-11): The No. 1 line of Tyler Seguin, captain Jamie Benn and rookie Valeri Nichushkin has shouldered much of the offensive burden this season, but Dallas has received balanced scoring while piling up 16 goals during its three-game run. Dustin Jeffrey and Colton Sceviour each are coming off two-goal games - the first two of the season for the former - and Ryan Garbutt has scored four times in his last four contests for the Stars. "It takes a lot of pressure off the team because if you’re not scoring, you've got to defend hard," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "It’s great to see the puck go in the net."
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (33-32-11): Carolina acquired Andrei Loktionov from New Jersey at the trade deadline, a move that is starting to pay dividends. Loktionov accumulated only four goals and 12 points in 48 games with the defensive-minded Devils and got off to a slow start upon joining the Hurricanes, failing to hit the scoresheet in his first six contests. The 23-year-old Russian has picked up his game since, collecting a pair of assists in the victory over Pittsburgh to boost his totals to three goals and five assists in his last eight contests.
OVERTIME
1. Stars G Kari Lehtonen has won three straight starts but it 7-11-1 lifetime against Carolina.
2. Hurricanes F Jeff Skinner is riding a six-game point streak and needs one goal to match his career-best total of 31.
3. Seguin has 19 points in his last 13 games.