Stars at Devils
The Dallas Stars own the most points in the NHL but they have won just twice in their last seven away from home as they prepare to open a three-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. The Stars bounced back from a surprising loss at league-worst Columbus with a 5-1 home win over Nashville to tie Washington with an NHL-high 28 victories.
Following a stretch of four games in six days, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff held an optional practice Friday to keep his team fresh with matchups against both New York teams on tap following Saturday's contest. “We’ve said all along there is not an easy game out there," Ruff said of the three-game trek. "There’s not a team you can go into their building and think tonight is the night.” After dropping four of five games and scoring one goal in each of the defeats, New Jersey closed out 2015 with a pair of victories on consecutive nights, including a 3-0 shutout in Ottawa on Wednesday. The Devils dropped a pair of one-goal decisions to the Stars last season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN-Plus Southwest (Dallas), MSG-Plus (New Jersey)
ABOUT THE STARS (28-8-3): Tyler Seguin continued his goal-scoring spree with a pair of tallies against Nashville, giving him eight in his last nine games to boost his season total to 23 - one behind teammate Jamie Benn for the league lead. Rookie Mattias Janmark also scored against the Predators for his sixth tally in the month of December following a 17-game goalless drought. "I just couldn't get the puck in the net," Janmark said of his earlier slump. "So, it's nice to get the goals in. If you don't get it, you start doubting yourself."
ABOUT THE DEVILS (19-14-5): Leading scorer Michael Cammalleri had scored once in a 10-game stretch before netting a pair of goals against the Senators, but he sat out practice Friday for what was termed a "maintenance day" by coach John Hynes. Goaltender Cory Schneider made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season as New Jersey won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 12-14. "If we want to put ourselves in a position to be in the playoffs towards the end of the year here, we have to start stringing these together," Schneider said.
OVERTIME
1. Benn has four goals and seven assists during a seven-game point streak.
2. New Jersey has been outshot by an opponent in five straight games and eight of the past nine.
3. The Stars have killed off 18-of-20 short-handed situations in the past eight games.