Stars at Sabres
The sliding Dallas Stars are sitting in the basement of the Central Division as they prepare to kick off a pivotal stretch that features five road games in the next six, beginning with Saturday's matchup at the league-worst Buffalo Sabres. Despite dropping four of their last six, the Stars are only five points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dallas is coming off back-to-back home losses but has won its last three road games.
After halting a franchise-record 14-game losing streak - all in regulation - with a 3-2 victory at Montreal on Tuesday, it was more of the same for Buffalo as it absorbed a 3-0 defeat to red-hot St. Louis on Thursday. The Sabres trailed by one goal until late in the third period before tumbling to their NHL-worst 20th regulation home defeat. "We've got to dig deep to get those," forward Tyler Ennis said. "A lot of shoulda, coulda, woulda, but it wasn't enough."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest Plus (Dallas), MSG (Buffalo)
ABOUT THE STARS (23-20-8): Dallas recalled goaltender Anders Lindback from Texas of the American Hockey League on Friday and he will get a start this week - possibly against the Sabres given the struggles of Kari Lehtonen. Stars coach Lindy Ruff was unhappy with Lehtonen after he surrendered four goals in Thursday's loss to Tampa Bay - the ninth time in 12 starts he has yielded at least three tallies. "We win as a team and lose as a team, but I think there’s times where Kari would like to be more consistent,” general manager Jim Nill said.
ABOUT THE SABRES (15-34-3): Buffalo is the only team in the league yet to score 100 goals and it has been limited to two tallies or fewer 13 times during its 1-15-0 spiral. “It’s not about the offensive zone. It’s about before that and we've got to do a better job as a team coming up together, supporting each other,” captain Brian Gionta said. “Once we get in the offensive zone, we’re all right. Once we get some sustained pressure, we’re all right. It’s just getting there.” Matt Moulson worked at the point on the power play in Friday's practice.
OVERTIME
1. Stars leading scorer Tyler Seguin is mired in a six-game goalless drought.
2. The Sabres have been shut out nine times this season - one shy of matching a franchise record.
3. Stars rookie D John Klingberg scored again Thursday, giving him six goals and six assists in his last 10 games.