Gameday Thread and Preview: Dallas Stars @ Toronto Maple Leafs (6:00 PM CST)

The Dallas Stars continue their six game road trip tonight with a match against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The two teams are in very different positions entering tonight: the Stars are coming off a 4-2 loss against the Montreal Canadiens last night and are fighting hard to make the playoffs. The Leafs, meanwhile, haven’t played since Saturday (a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins) and are all but guaranteed to finish 3rd in their division.

The Stars are currently riding a two-game losing streak to kick off their six-game road trip, and have recently been bypassed by the Colorado Avalanche for the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

Dallas can retake that spot with a win or overtime loss tonight against Toronto.

Dallas Stars Lineup

Ken Hitchcock told reporters that Marc Methot will be out tonight and that Julius Honka will be back in the lineup. According to Mike Heika, he might also reunite the super-line and the Roussel-Faksa-Pitlick trio, which should give the Stars lines that look something like this:

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Devin Shore - Jason Dickinson - Mattias Janmark
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns - Julius Honka

With Ben Bishop still out due to injury, Kari Lehtonen is confirmed to be the starter tonight.

Toronto Maple Leafs Lineup

Fortunately for the Stars, Auston Matthews is still out due to a shoulder injury. Here’s the projected lineup for Toronto based on their practice yesterday:

Zach Hyman - William Nylander - Mitchell Marner
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Leo Komarov
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson - Thomas Plekanec - Kasperi Kapanen

Morgan Reilly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Roman Polak
Travis Dermott - Connor Carrick

Frederik Andersen is expected to be in net tonight.

Game Info

Location: Air Canada Centre (Toronto ON)

Puck Drop: 6:00 PM CST

TV: FSSW

Radio: 96.7 FM / 1310 AM The Ticket

Online: Fox Sports Go / theticket.com