Stars at Islanders
The New York Islanders are looking to change course under the watch of interim coach Doug Weight while the Dallas Stars are headed in the right direction on the heels of their best offensive performance of the season. The cellar-dwelling Islanders will set sail to begin a six-game stretch at Barclays Center on Thursday when they vie for their fourth straight home win over the Stars.
"I'm certainly not going to reinvent the wheel," said Weight, who spent six years as an assistant to Jack Capuano before the latter was fired on Tuesday. "We've started playing some good hockey. ... I'm just going to demand a hard work ethic and some good decisions -- probably some better decisions moving forward." Dallas' decision to shoot the puck traditionally has proven wise, but never more so than Tuesday when it erupted for a season high in goals in a 7-6 victory over the New York Rangers. Thursday's tilt will be the Stars' third straight in the Empire State as they began the trek with a 4-1 setback to Buffalo on Monday. Radek Faksa scored his sixth goal of the season versus the Sabres and set up a pair of tallies the following night to extend his point total to nine (one goal, eight assists) in his past seven games.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest-Plus (Dallas), MSG-Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE STARS (19-19-8): Captain Jamie Benn recorded his second three-point performance in six games and sixth of the season by scoring a goal and setting up two others on Tuesday, increasing his point total to 22 (five goals, 17 assists) in his past 21 games. Fellow forward Patrick Sharp scored twice on Tuesday to give him six points (three goals, three assists) in six contests. Kari Lehtonen hasn't won since Dec. 29 but turned aside all 12 shots in relief in the third period Tuesday and is expected to get the nod versus the Islanders, against whom he made 27 saves in the last meeting between the teams - a 3-0 shutout on March 19.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (17-17-8): Captain John Tavares has five of his team-leading 16 goals in the last three games and has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his last 10 encounters with Dallas. Fellow forward Josh Bailey recorded his 12th point (one goal, 11 assists) in 12 games with his 99th career tally in Monday afternoon's 4-0 rout of Boston. Veteran Jason Chimera has goals in three straight contests after mustering just five in his previous 39 games overall and one in 32 career meetings with the Stars.
OVERTIME
1. Weight will become the third former Islander to coach the team, joining Lorne Henning and Butch Goring.
2. Dallas coach Lindy Ruff told reporters on Wednesday that D Johnny Oduya has been ruled out against New York with the undisclosed injury he sustained against the Rangers.
3. The Islanders have erupted for 20 goals in their last three home games versus the Stars.