Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
THE STORY:. Dallas, which is coming off a 3-1 victory at Chicago, is even in points with Calgary and Los Angeles but has possession of eighth in the West by virtue of having more wins. The Stars are 3-1-1 in their last five contests. Minnesota has won its last two contests after dropping seven straight.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN North, FSN Wisconsin (Minnesota), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE WILD (27-24-9): Minnesota was without captain Mikko Koivu and goaltender Josh Harding in Thursday’s shootout win over Florida due to undisclosed injuries. Koivu has missed three straight contests. Matt Hackett was recalled from Houston of the AHL and served as Niklas Backstrom’s backup. Hackett appeared in three games with the Wild earlier this season, going 2-0-0 while stopping 84 of 86 shots for a 0.85 goals-against average.
ABOUT THE STARS (31-26-4): Sheldon Souray returned to the lineup Thursday after missing seven games with a foot injury. The defenseman recorded two shots on goal and a plus-1 rating in just over 20 1/2 minutes of ice time in the win over Chicago. Dallas played without Jake Dowell, who was placed on injured reserve Wednesday with an upper-body injury. The center, who has a goal and five points in 43 games this season, recorded two of his four assists over his last four contests. All-Star Jamie Benn missed his fourth consecutive game with a cut behind his left knee.
OVERTIME:
1. Minnesota has scored a total of five goals over its last five road games.
2. The Stars have won 16 of 17 at home against the Wild and 22 of the last 30 overall meetings between the clubs.
PREDICTION: Stars 3, Wild 1.
Related posts:
NHL - Stars try and expand their Pacific lead (SportsOptions.com) 
0
NHL - Stars could climb in West with Brad Richards’ return (James Payton) 0
NHL - NHL betting preview: Dallas at Winnipeg (Tony Finn) 0
NHL - NHL betting preview: Dallas at St Louis free pick (Tony Finn) 0
NHL - Blackhawks without Quenneville, but Kane should play vs. Wild (James Payton) 0
RSS
Google
MyYahoo!
MyMSN
NewsGator
BlogLines