Hurricanes at Stars
A rough start to the month has pushed the Dallas Stars back in their pursuit of a playoff spot. Dallas hopes to begin its upward climb Saturday afternoon as it looks to snap a four-game slide when it hosts the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Stars, who trail Los Angeles by eight points for the second wild card in the Western Conference and also have three other clubs to overtake, are winless since defeating Toronto at home on Jan. 31 and are coming off a 3-2 setback in Ottawa on Thursday. Carolina's postseason outlook isn't much brighter, as it sits five points behind Boston for the second wild-card spot in the East with four other teams between them. The Hurricanes had their three-game winning streak halted Tuesday, when they were blanked 5-0 in Washington. Carolina, which has four games in hand on the Bruins, figures to fall even further back in the standings as it has a five-day break after Saturday's contest before beginning a five-game homestand next Friday against Colorado.
TV: 2 p.m. ET, FSN Carolinas, FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE HURRICANES (24-21-7): Eddie Lack's return to the ice did not go as he envisioned it, as he surrendered five goals on 28 shots against the Capitals. The 29-year-old Swedish goaltender had not seen action since Nov. 10 due to a pair of concussions. Jeff Skinner leads the team with 18 goals but has tallied just once in his last 10 contests.
ABOUT THE STARS (21-24-10): Defenseman Julius Honka was assigned to Texas of the American Hockey League on Friday. The 21-year-old Finnish rookie recorded four assists and a minus-4 rating in 10 games with the Stars. Dallas allowed another short-handed goal on Thursday, raising its league-leading total to nine.
OVERTIME
1. Stars RW Patrick Eaves, who has scored a team-leading 10 power-play goals, is slated to play his 600th NHL game.
2. Carolina rookie RW Sebastian Aho leads the club with three game-winning goals and is second in overall tallies with 16.
3. Dallas has won seven of its last eight home meetings with the Hurricanes.