Stars at Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings try their hand at slowing down the scoring duo of Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn when they host the Western Conference-leading Dallas Stars on Sunday afternoon. Seguin tops the league in points (21) with at least one in seven straight games and Benn was the only player in the NHL with double figures in goals (10) entering Saturday’s contests.
Seguin has totaled 11 points during his streak, including a hat trick at Boston on Tuesday, and the Stars have won five of their last six – including two of three on their four-game road trip. Detroit has won three straight after suffering through a 1-5-1 stretch and has allowed one goal in each of its last two contests. Captain Henrik Zetterberg leads the Red Wings with 15 points after notching the 300th goal of his career in a 2-1 overtime triumph at Toronto on Friday. Detroit has gained at least one point in six consecutive games (5-0-1) against Dallas, including a wild 7-6 overtime triumph in the most recent meeting in February.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, RSN, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Detroit
ABOUT THE STARS (11-3-0): Coach Lindy Ruff continues to shuffle his goaltenders with success as Kari Lehtonen responded with victories in the last two games after Antti Niemi suffered only his second loss in eight decisions at Toronto. Lehtonen, who could get his third straight start against the Red Wings, has stopped 66-of-70 shots this month. Antoine Roussel (upper body) is expected to return to the lineup while fellow forward Patrick Sharp (undisclosed) missed practice Saturday and is questionable.
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (7-5-1): Detroit continues to search for consistent offense without Pavel Datsyuk (ankle), who is closing in on his season debut. Rookie Dylan Larkin has picked up some of the slack with four goals and 10 points in his first 13 NHL games while posting an impressive plus-12 rating, and Gustav Nyquist has netted a team-high five tallies. Defenseman Mike Green (shoulder) is questionable after missing the last six games while Landon Ferraro left Friday’s contest with a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Red Wings G Jimmy Howard, who is off to a solid start with a .934 save percentage, needs 50 minutes to reach 20,000 in his career.
2. Dallas D John Klingberg has recorded six of his 13 points on the power play, where the Stars rank second in the league at 28.9 percent.
3. Detroit LW Justin Abdelkader has notched an assist in each of his last two games after going nine contests without a point.