Jets at Stars
The Dallas Stars look to exact revenge for their worst loss of the season but more importantly pick up two key points in the Western Conference standings when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. Dallas, which lost 8-2 in the last meeting Nov. 8, and Winnipeg each have 52 points, and are four points behind third-place Nashville in the Central Division while being among six teams bunched together fighting for the two wild card positions.
The Stars came out of the All-Star break with a 6-3 triumph over Toronto on Tuesday for their second straight victory and first win streak since December while the Jets shook off the rust from having four days off to prevail in St. Louis 5-3 on Tuesday. "We knew where we were at in the standings, and we know how important these points are," Dallas captain Jamie Benn told reporters after scoring for the second straight game as part of the Stars' five-goal explosion in the first period. "We talked about it. Getting off to a good start was a key of ours (Tuesday)." Thursday's contest pits two of the six NHL teams that allow more than three goals per game while Dallas owns the least effective penalty-killing unit in the league at 73.7 percent with Winnipeg owning the fourth-worst unit at 77 percent. That could bode well for Jets rookie Patrik Laine, whose 23 goals including a club-high eight on the power play give him a share of the team lead with Mark Scheifele.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TSN3 (Winnipeg), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE JETS (24-25-4): Laine, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft who shares the NHL lead in goals among rookies with No. 1 selection Auston Matthews of Toronto, has two goals and two assists in three games since missing eight with a concussion. Scheifele (team bests of 28 assists, 51 points and a plus-13 rating) recorded eight goals and 10 assists in 14 January games after registering two goals and three assists in his last two games while Blake Wheeler (16 goals) also has 28 assists and - like Scheifele - had a goal and two assists Tuesday. The goaltending situation remains unsettled as Ondrej Pavelec is 3-2-0 since his recall from Manitoba of the American Hockey League, but must improve on his 3.25 goals-against average and .893 save percentage.
ABOUT THE STARS (21-20-10): Dallas' top four in points - Tyler Seguin (18 goals, 49 points, minus-15), Benn (14-42, minus-10), Patrick Eaves (18-31, minus-10) and Jason Spezza (8-31, minus-12) - are also its bottom four in plus-minus. Seguin has recorded two goals and three assists during a four-game point streak while Spezza boasts a goal and three assists in a three-game point run. Eaves has three goals and four assists, and is a plus-2 over his last six games while John Klingberg's seven goals and 21 assists rank first among the team's defensemen, but his minus-2 rating is the worst among the Stars' regular blueliners.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas won only four games following a victory this season.
2. The Stars allowed 45 power-play goals this season - one more than they permitted in all of 2015-16.
3. Winnipeg prevailed in three of the past four meetings - two of three this season - after Dallas won the first four encounters in 2015-16.