Stars at Coyotes
The Dallas Stars look to take advantage of a struggling opponent as they take a brief break between homestands on Tuesday to visit the Arizona Coyotes. Dallas completed a successful five-game stretch at home prior to the holiday break, finishing at 3-1-1 by edging Los Angeles in overtime on Friday.
Rookie defenseman Esa Lindell scored 67 seconds into the extra session to secure the win for the Stars, who head back to American Airlines Center for a three game string beginning Thursday against Colorado. Arizona is seeking its first victory on a five-game homestand that has seen it score a total of five goals in losses to Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. The Coyotes have lost four straight overall and posted just one win in their last seven on their own ice (1-4-2) as they enter Tuesday's contest sitting in last place in the Pacific Division, four points behind Vancouver. Radim Vrbata leads Arizona with eight goals but is in the midst of an 11-game drought during which he has recorded five assists to increase his team-high point total to 22.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest Plus (Dallas), FSN Arizona
ABOUT THE STARS (14-14-7): Tyler Seguin ended his six-game goal-scoring drought Friday with his 11th, pulling within one of Patrick Eaves for the team lead. Seven of Seguin's tallies have come on the power play, tying him for fourth in the league - two behind leader Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh. The 32-year-old Eaves has reached double digits in goals in each of his three seasons with Dallas after hitting the plateau only four times over his first nine NHL campaigns.
ABOUT THE COYOTES (11-18-5): Captain Shane Doan had more than Christmas to celebrate over the weekend as the veteran scored his 400th goal in his 1,500th career game Friday versus Toronto, becoming the 93rd and 17th in NHL history to reach the respective milestones. "Hopefully, this opens the door and I can get a few more," Doan, who had gone 10 games without a tally, told reporters. "(Playing) 1,500 is special too. I wish it didn't take me this long (to get No. 400), but at least I got it." Tobias Rieder is tied for second on the team with seven goals but hasn't scored in his last 10 contests.
OVERTIME
1. Coyotes G Mike Smith, who began his career with the Stars, is 7-6-5 with two shutouts and a 2.19 goals-against average versus his former club.
2. Eaves' next assist will be the 100th of his career.
3. Arizona hopes to have D Jakob Chychrun (upper body) and C Ryan White (lower body) back in the lineup as both missed Friday's game.