Stars at Islanders
The Dallas Stars attempt to snap their three-game road losing streak when they continue their three-game trek Sunday against the New York Islanders. Dallas fell to 0-1-2 in its last three away from the Lone Star State when it began its road trip with a 3-2 overtime loss at New Jersey on Saturday but managed to earn a point by scoring twice in a 3:35 span midway through the third period.
The Stars hope to have Valeri Nichushkin (lower body) back in the lineup after he missed Saturday's contest, although the 20-year-old Russian has recorded just one assist in his last 11 games. New York was unable to complete its three-game road trip with a perfect record, falling 5-2 at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Captain John Tavares enters Sunday's matchup having recorded six points in his last five games after scoring his team-leading 15th goal against the Penguins. The Islanders claimed three of a possible four points against the Stars last season, posting a wild 7-5 victory at home while dropping a 3-2 overtime decision in Dallas.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE STARS (28-8-4): Captain Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin - who began Saturday second and third in the league in scoring with 52 and 50 points, respectively - were kept off the scoresheet by the Devils. Benn had his seven-game point streak snapped, a run during which he collected four goals and seven assists, while Seguin had netted eight tallies in his previous nine contests. Patrick Sharp refused to be slowed down by New Jersey, however, as he tallied to extend his point streak to eight games (five goals, six assists).
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (21-13-5): New York aims to get its special teams back in order after Saturday's horror show in which it allowed two power-play goals and a short-handed tally against Pittsburgh. The Islanders owned the league's top-ranked penalty-killing unit but have yielded three man-advantage goals over their last two games to drop to third place (86 percent), with Anaheim (88.3) claiming the top spot. Kyle Okposo has notched an assist in each of his last two contests but has gone seven games without a goal.
OVERTIME
1. Stars D John Klingberg has recorded an assist in three straight games to raise his team-leading total to 30.
2. New York could be without RW Cal Clutterbuck, who took only five shifts Saturday before leaving with an upper-body injury.
3. Seguin has yet to be held without a point in consecutive games this season while Benn has had just one instance - a three-game stretch from Dec. 1-4.