Devils at Stars
The Dallas Stars are hoping three days off will help them reverse their current swoon as they host another struggling club in the New Jersey Devils on Saturday. Dallas has been off since a 5-2 home loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday, marking its fifth setback in six games and continuing an ugly trend of giving up five goals in each defeat. The Stars won at New Jersey 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 24 to end a three-game skid versus the Devils.
New Jersey turned in a lackluster performance in a 4-1 defeat at Philadelphia on Thursday, getting outshot by a 2-to-1 margin to absorb their 14th defeat in 19 games (5-11-3). The Devils have dropped eight of 10 since Nov. 22, including three shootout losses, but veteran Jaromir Jagr believes the team can make a run at a postseason slot. “We have to learn from this and regroup,” Jagr said. “I still believe we can do it easily. We’ve got the workhorses here."
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG Plus (New Jersey), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE DEVILS (11-14-5): Leading goal scorer Michael Cammalleri returned to the lineup after missing two games and came within inches of a lengthy stay on the injury list. Cammalleri drew a penalty for tripping Philadelphia's Michael Raffl, whose skate came up and sliced Cammalleri behind the ear, forcing New Jersey's medical staff to use glue to treat the wound. Cammalleri was more upset that his penalty led to an insurance goal, saying: “I can’t be doing that at that point of the game for sure. ... It was the whole ballgame right there."
ABOUT THE STARS (10-13-5): Dallas will be short-handed again on its forward line after Ryan Garbutt was suspended three games by the NHL for slew-footing Winnipeg’s Dustin Byfuglien on Tuesday. It's the second suspension in a two-week span for Garbutt, who also was banned two games for a knee-on-knee hit against Edmonton's Taylor Hall on Nov. 25. “He’s got to stop. He knows he has to change his game,” Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "It’s got to end. He’s too valuable to the team, we need him on the ice.”
OVERTIME
1. Stars F Tyler Seguin has 10 goals in his last 10 games to give him a league-high 22.
2. Devils G Cory Schneider is 7-3-1 with a 2.08 goals-against average versus the Stars.
3. Dallas called up F Travis Moen - last season's MVP in the American Hockey League - from the Texas Stars.