Stars at Penguins
The road has not been kind of late to the Dallas Stars, who attempt to halt their skid as they continue their four-game trek Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dallas is winless in its last four away from home (0-2-2), including setbacks at St. Louis and Detroit on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, to begin its trip.
Tyler Seguin helped set up the Stars' lone goal in the 3-1 loss to the Red Wings to give him a team-leading 24 points in as many games while captain Jamie Benn was kept off the scoresheet after collecting four points in his previous two contests. Pittsburgh will be attempt to regroup as it returns home after a crushing road loss to the New York Islanders on Wednesday. The Penguins erased a 3-0 deficit in the third period, only to allow the tiebreaking goal with 26.6 seconds remaining and fail in their attempt to record back-to-back victories for the first time since Nov. 5 and 8. Captain Sidney Crosby shares the team scoring lead with Evgeni Malkin after raising his point total to 22 with a pair of assists versus the Islanders.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360, FSN Southwest Plus (Dallas), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE STARS (9-9-6): John Klingberg's stint in coach Lindy Ruff's doghouse may be a short one. The 24-year-old Swede, who leads all Dallas defensemen in scoring with 11 points, could be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch against Detroit for not playing "good enough," according to Ruff, thanks to an injury to fellow blue-liner Stephen Johns. The 24-year-old Johns exited Tuesday's contest in the third period with a facial cut suffered in a collision with Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg, and his status is unknown.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (13-7-3): Patric Hornqvist returned to the lineup Wednesday after missing six games with a concussion and notched an assist in 17 minutes, 10 seconds of ice time. The 29-year-old Swede has landed on the scoresheet in 10 of his last 13 contests. Crosby's two assists versus New York matched his total from the previous seven games and raised his season total to seven while Malkin ended his seven-game goal-scoring drought in the setback.
OVERTIME
1. The Stars are just 1-for-13 on the power play over their last five games.
2. Pittsburgh RW Phil Kessel has been kept off the scoresheet in two straight games after collecting eight points in his previous six contests.
3. Dallas rookie D Esa Lindell has scored twice in his last three games after going without a goal in the first 12 contests of his career.