Stars at Jets
The Winnipeg Jets will attempt to put an end to a dubious streak when they host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in the second leg of a home-and-home series. Winnipeg, which dropped a 3-2 decision in Dallas on Tuesday for its second straight defeat, has pulled its goaltender in each of its six games this season.
Jets coach Paul Maurice was much happier with his team's effort in Dallas than in the lackluster home loss to Edmonton in the outdoor Heritage Classic. “I thought we worked our tails off," Maurice said. "We were hard forechecking, hard driving. If we play that game for 82, we'll take it all day long.” The Stars salvaged a 1-1-1 homestand but now head into a grueling portion of their schedule, playing their next three and eight of their next 10 games on the road. Center Jason Spezza is expected to miss his second straight game while fellow forwards Patrick Sharp, Jiri Hudler and Ales Hemsky remain sidelined for Dallas.
TV: 8 p.m. ET; FSN Southwest (Dallas), TSN3 (Winnipeg), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE STARS (3-2-1): With its lineup depleted by injuries to its forwards, Patrick Eaves returned to the lineup and scored his 100th career goal while Dallas received solid support from a pair of rookies in Tuesday's victory. Center Devin Shore set up the Stars' first two goals to give him five assists while Justin Dowling earned an assist in his NHL debut. "I thought we had a great night out of (Dowling's) line. We got a good night out of the Shore line," coach Lindy Ruff said.
ABOUT THE JETS (2-4-0): Forward Drew Stafford, a 21-goal scorer last season who has been limited to one point in six games, exited Tuesday's game in the first period with an upper-body injury and will miss Thursday's rematch. Dallas brings out the best in Jets forward Joel Armia, who has five goals and 11 points in 49 career games but has three tallies and five points in five meetings against the Stars. Mark Scheifele had a late power-play goal Tuesday to take over the team lead with seven points.
OVERTIME
1. Stars C Tyler Seguin has a seven-game point streak versus Winnipeg and had 12 goals against the Jets in 14 contests.
2. The Jets are 3-for-24 with the man advantage.
3. Stars captain Jamie Benn has 18 points in as many games versus Winnipeg.