Islanders at Stars
The New York Islanders began the Doug Weight era by posting a 3-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on Jan. 19 to ignite an impressive 12-4-2 run before a disastrous 7-0 shellacking by Columbus in their last outing. With five days to lick their wounds, the Islanders look to pick up the pieces in Dallas on Thursday when they begin a stretch of six contests in 10 days to conclude their franchise-high nine-game road trip.
Captain John Tavares, who saw his three-game goal streak end versus the Blue Jackets, tallied twice in the first meeting with the Stars and has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 11 career encounters. New York, which owns a 5-1-1 mark in its last seven games versus Dallas, resides one point behind Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The American Airlines Center has been a comforting place of late for Antoine Roussel, who began Dallas' five-game homestand with his first career hat trick in a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay on Feb. 18 before collecting a goal and an assist in the third period of Tuesday's 3-2 triumph versus Pittsburgh. The Stars have won three of their last four games to climb within seven points of St. Louis for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, MSG-Plus2 (New York), FSN Southwest (Dallas), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (29-22-10): Joshua Ho-Sang is anxiously awaiting his NHL debut after being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. "It's been my dream to be here and to get on the ice. It's really exciting and I'm looking forward to playing," said Ho-Sang, who was confirmed to be in the lineup by Weight on Wednesday. The 21-year-old Ho-Sang, who was the 28th overall pick of the 2014 draft, likely will play on a line with Andrew Ladd and Brock Nelson.
ABOUT THE STARS (25-28-10): Dallas bid adieu to forward Patrick Eaves (Anaheim) and defensemen Jordie Benn (Montreal) and Johnny Oduya (Chicago) in a five-day stretch prior to shuffling forward Lauri Korpikoski to Columbus on Wednesday, but the ever-changing club could see a returning face in the form of Ales Hemsky. The veteran forward has missed the entire season following hip surgery, but is keeping an open mind after being cleared to play versus New York. "It's been a long journey, but I guess I'm ahead of schedule, feel pretty good," 33-year-old Hemsky said after practice Wednesday. "We'll see (on Thursday) what will happen, if they put me in or not."
OVERTIME
1. Dallas veteran F Jason Spezza has 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists) in 35 career encounters versus New York.
2. The Islanders are 11-2-3 against Western Conference representatives this season.
3. Dallas D John Klingberg has five points (two goals, three assists) in the past three games.