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Stars Gameday: 10-30-17 @ VAN |
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Ken Hitchcock's Dallas Stars (6-5-0) return to action on Monday as the Western Canada portion of the team's five-game road trip continues after having Saturday and Sunday nights off. In their final game of the October schedule, the Stars will visit Travis Green's Vancouver Canucks (6-3-1) on Monday. The road trip concludes in Winnipeg on Thursday.
Monday's game at Rogers Arena starts at 9 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Southwest Plus.
The Stars enter this game coming off a gritty 2-1 win over the Flames in Calgary on Friday. Superior special teams and a strong goaltending performance by Kari Lehtonen (29 saves on 30 shots) made the difference for Dallas in the win over the Flames. The Stars went 2-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. Esa Lindell (3rd goal of the season) and Alexander Radulov (power play, 3rd) notched goals for Dallas.
Jamie Benn had his point streak snapped in Friday's tilt but the Stars captain remains the club scoring leader with 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 11 games. Tyler Seguin is next with 11 points (six goals, five assists), along with defenseman John Klingberg (three goals, eight assists, 11 points) and then Radulov (eight points).
Secondary scoring has been a bit scarcer for the Stars thus far than the team would like but two-way forward Mattias Janmark has six points (two goals, four assists) and Lindell has chipped in five points from the blueline. Veteran forward Jason Spezza is still looking for his first goal of the season but has five assists and fellow vet Martin Hanzal has an empty net goal for his lone point to date and an ugly-looking traditional minus-nine rating at even strength.
In nine starts to date, Ben Bishop has a 5-2-0 record, 2.71 GAA and .911 save percentage. He left one start early due to taking a puck off the mask and sustaining a cut and was pulled early in the second period of last Tuesday's 5-3 loss to Colorado. Bishop got a no-decision in both of those games. Lehtonen has made two starts as well as two relief appearances, posting a 1-3-0 record, 2.91 GAA and .896 save percentage.
Hanzal, who has been banged up a few times this season including the game in Calgary, is questionable for Monday's game. Stephen Johns (suspected concussion) could be ready to return for Thursday's game in Winnipeg.
Vancouver enters this game coming off a 6-2 home blowout win over the two-time defending President's Trophy winning Washington Capitals on Thursday. After a successful five-game road trip (4-1-0), the Canucks kicked off a five-game homestand that will last through Nov. 6.
On Thursday against the Caps, an offensive blitz by the Canucks in the latter half of the first period sent Vancouver to the first intermission with a 3-0 lead. The lead grew to 5-0 by the time the game was 35 minutes old, and the rest was more or less a formality.
Sven Baertschi netted a pair of power play markers (3rd and 4th goals of the season) for the Canucks against Washington. The team also got tallies from veteran Thomas Vanek (4th), Bo Horvat (power play, 4th), Markus Granlund (2nd) and Derek Dorsett (6th). The three power play goals on six attempts were a much-welcomed sight, as the club had come in at just 10 percent efficiency (29th-ranked in the NHL) on the season.
Vancouver has had three nights off since last playing, so they will be a rested team.
Brock Boeser enters Monday's game as the Canucks' leading scorer, with nine points (two goals, seven assists) in just nine games. He is followed by Dorsett (eight points, 44 PIM), Baertschi (four goals, four assists), Horvat (seven points), Vanek (five points) and Chris Tanev (two goals, three assists). Respectively, the aging twin duo of Daniel Sedin (two goals, two assists) and Henrik Sedin (three assists) has combined for nine points.
In goal, Vancouver features the Swedish duo of Jacob Markström (six starts and one relief appearance, 3-2-0 record, 2.48 GAA, .908 SV%) and Anders Nilsson (four starts, 3-1-0 record, 1.88 GAA, .943 SV%, two shutouts).
Dallas Stars Blogger • 
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