Wild at Stars
The Dallas Stars are playing their best hockey of the season and go for their fourth consecutive victory when they host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night. Dallas is 7-1-0 following a 6-0 drubbing of the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, which came two nights after ending the New York Rangers' eight-game winning streak. “I think we’ve been going pretty good here of late and we just want to carry it into a new month and a new year,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said.
Dallas has had its issues with the Wild this season, dropping all three meetings and losing both matchups on its home ice - including a 5-4 overtime setback on Nov. 30. The Wild are coming off a much-needed 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, winning at home for the first time in more than three weeks. Minnesota has permitted six goals in the past three games after it was torched for 23 tallies during a five-game skid.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WILD (18-14-4): Minnesota had the league's worst power play through Dec. 3, converting on only 7-of-78 chances and scoring with the man advantage in five of the first 24 games. The Wild have turned things around with 11 power-play tallies in the last 12 contests, including at least one in five of the past six games. Captain Mikko Koivu scored with the extra skater in Friday's game - his first goal in the past 10 games - while defenseman Jared Spurgeon supplied the game-winning tally to halt a 19-game drought.
ABOUT THE STARS (17-14-5): Rookie Brett Ritchie made a splashy NHL debut in Wednesday's romp, collecting his first goal on his first career shot to open the scoring. “I thought he played real well,” Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. “Again, did the right things, got himself in a good area to score the goal and had a breakaway. He put in good minutes. I thought he made us a stronger four-line team.” With Shawn Horcoff still battling an illness, Ruff said he'll likely keep Ritchie paired with Travis Moen and Vern Fiddler on the fourth line.
OVERTIME
1. The Stars are 0-for-9 on the power play against Minnesota this season.
2. Wild F Zach Parise has nine goals and 22 assists in 16 games against Dallas.
3. Stars G Kari Lehtonen surrendered 11 goals in the three losses to Minnesota in November.