Gameday: Dallas Stars vs Los Angeles Kings
Location: American Airlines Center, Dallas TX
Puck Drop: 7:30 PM CST
Broadcast: FSSW
Radio: 96.7 FM / 1310 AM The Ticket
Online: Fox Sports Go / theticket.com
Antoine Roussel has a sinus infection, which does not sound like fun at all, so he’ll miss tonight’s game. That’s led to some tweaking of the forward lines for tonight’s game. The trio of Julius Honka, Dillon Heatherington, and Jason Dickinson were all recalled from their brief AHL stint over the All-Star weekend, and two of those are expected in the lineup tonight with Roussel unavailable.
Stars lines:
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Alexander Radulov
Gemel Smith – Jason Spezza – Brett Ritchie
Devin Shore – Radek Faksa – Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie – Jason Dickinson – Mattias Janmark
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis – Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns – Julius Honka
Ben Bishop will get the start tonight on home ice, and Kari Lehtonen is expected between the pipes when the team travels to take on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. It’s a rare road game for the team over the next three weeks, who continue to have an easy part of the schedule with the majority of matchups at the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center.
The Kings are one point out of third in the Pacific Division, and three points behind the Stars in the Wild Card race. With every game from now until the end of the regular season expected to be a slugfest for points, it’s yet another game in which it will be imperative for the Stars to get points and continue separating themselves from the Colorado Avalanche, who sit three points behind them, and the logjam of teams within four points of a playoff position (Kings, Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks).
You’ll see that sentiment written often around here, we imagine.
Los Angeles is expected to ice the following lineup tonight:
Alex Iafallo – Anze Kopitar – Tyler Toffoli
Tanner Pearson – Adrian Kempe – Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford – Torrey Mitchell – Trevor Lewis
Andy Andreoff – Michael Amadio – Jonny Brodzinski
Kevin Gravel – Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin – Paul LaDue
Alec Martinez – Christian Folin
With Jonathan Quick still injured, Darcy Kuemper should start in net. Former Stars pick Jack Campbell is expected to be the official backup tonight.