Sharks at Stars
Goaltender Antti Niemi could get a chance to face the team that jettisoned him in the offseason when the Dallas Stars host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday afternoon. Niemi, who had a career-high 23 regulation losses in his fifth and final season with San Jose, was sent packing to the Stars in June in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick.
“He worked as hard an anybody in this organization when he was here," Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said of Niemi. "He worked to make himself better.” Niemi has surrendered three goals in each of his last two starts but has been bailed out by his teammates on both occasions. Dallas battled back from a three-goal deficit in a 4-3 win at Anaheim on Tuesday and scored a pair of third-period goals before pulling out a 4-3 win over Vancouver on captain Jamie Benn's game-winning tally. The Sharks are in a tailspin since opening the season with four straight victories, going 1-4-0 in their last five.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, CSN California (San Jose), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (5-4-0): Coach Peter DeBoer on Friday declined to reveal whether he will go with Alex Stalock or Martin Jones - who has started the past four games and eight of nine - against the high-scoring Stars. "The thing that jumps right off the page at you is their skill up front," DeBoer said. "That’s as dynamic a group of forwards as there is. They’re playing with confidence right now. We’re going to have to make sure that our attention to detail is real good.” San Jose is laboring on the power play, coming up empty on all 13 opportunities over the past six games.
ABOUT THE STARS (8-2-0): Dallas coach Lindy Ruff continued to tinker with his lines during Thursday's victory over the Canucks, elevating Sharp back to the top line while shifting Cody Eakin to a line with Jason Spezza and Valeri Nichushkin. “I think I have incredible options that I am going to use inside a game depending on who I feel is going the best,” Ruff said. Sharp can play either wing and (Tyler) Seguin can play center or wing. There are options." Sharp scored twice against Vancouver to give him three goals in his last two after failing to tally in his first eight games with the Stars.
OVERTIME
1. Through Thursday's play, Benn led the league with nine goals and 17 points while notching multiple points in six of his last seven games.
2. Pavelski has 16 goals and 39 points in 47 career contests versus the Stars.
3. Seguin has five goals in eight games against San Jose.