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Tue, 27 Jan 2015 Stars @ Canadiens 7:30 PM EST RDS SN-E FS Southwest TSN 690

habs_93

By habs_93
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habs_93 Hockey Guru / Grand manitou

habs_93

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STARS (21-18-7) at CANADIENS (29-13-3)

TV: RDS, Sportsnet East, FOX Sports Southwest
Radio: TSN 690 CKGM, The Ticket 1310 KTCK

Canadiens Last 5: 3-1-1 (W2)
Stars Last 5: 3-2-0 (L1)

The Dallas Stars have made up a fair bit of ground in the Western Conference standings since they last faced the Montreal Canadiens.

After winning nine of its first 26 games, Dallas has gone on a 12-6-2 run that began with a 4-1 win against Montreal on Dec. 6. The Stars were 11 points out of a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before their first game against the Canadiens; they are now within four points going into their game against Montreal at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

"It's a fact we've been able to defend a lot better," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said after the morning skate. "We won that game in kind of a low-scoring game and we caught them in a back-to-back situation, which I think was a little bit tougher, but the (wins) have been coming because mainly I think our defensive play as a whole has been better as a team."

The Stars (21-18-7) are in sixth place in the Central Division with 49 points. The Canadiens (29-13-3) are in third place in the Atlantic Division and fourth in the Eastern Conference with 61 points.

"We know they're a good team," Dallas captain Jamie Benn said. "They play with lots of speed, they've got great goaltending, good defense, and they can put the puck in the net as well, so we've got to find a way to slow them down tonight and just make them play with us."

Canadiens goalie Carey Price and forward Jiri Sekac missed practice Monday because of flight delays returning from the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game in Columbus. They returned to Montreal on a charter flight and will be in the lineup.

"We're all in the same boat here, probably get the rust out in the first period and then we'll see how it goes after that," Benn said. "But we definitely want to set the tone early, get our legs going and see what happens."

Stars center Tyler Seguin tweeted Monday that his travel itinerary from Columbus took him through Washington and Ottawa on his way to Montreal, where he tweeted a photo to Price that he had arrived there first.

"Lots of travel, but it was worth it," Seguin said Tuesday. "It was a fun weekend."

Dallas center Jason Spezza's next game Thursday will be his first in Ottawa since he was traded to the Stars by the Senators on July 1. He acknowledged it's a date he has thought about.

"I try not to, but it's going to be strange," Spezza said. "It was home for me and it's where I grew up as a player and I have fond memories of being there. I think the time was just right for me to move on, but it'll be a little nostalgic for me going back there for sure, but we've got to take care of this one first. We need the wins right now."

Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban said possession will dictate whether Montreal will be able to pick up on its roll that saw them defeat two of the NHL's top teams, the New York Islanders and Nashville Predators, heading into the break.

"The keys to us are to be first on the puck," Subban said after the Canadiens morning skate at their suburban practice facility. "I think if we get there first then we're not playing defense, we're playing offense as well as getting the puck out of our zone. Our (defense), we have to work really hard to get back and our forwards have to support us so we can get out of the zone with speed. For us, when we're coming up the ice with speed we usually generate lots of scoring opportunities."

Here are the projected lineups:

STARS

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Eaves

Shawn Horcoff – Jason Spezza – Ales Hemsky

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour

Jordie Benn - Alex Goligoski

Trevor Daley – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka – Jamie Oleksiak

Kari Lehtonen

Anders Lindback

Scratched: John Klingberg, David Schlemko, Erik Cole

Injured: Patrik Nemeth (arm), Valeri Nichushkin (hip), Brett Ritchie (hand)

Leading Scorer: Tyler Seguin (28-24-52)
Ice Time Leader: Trevor Daley (23:47)

CANADIENS

Max Pacioretty - Tomas Plekanec - Dale Weise

Alex Galchenyuk - David Desharnais - Brendan Gallagher

Jiri Sekac - Lars Eller - Brandon Prust

Michael Bournival - Manny Malhotra - Christian Thomas

Nathan Beaulieu - P.K. Subban

Andrei Markov - Sergei Gonchar

Alexei Emelin - Tom Gilbert

Carey Price

Dustin Tokarski

Scratched: Mike Weaver

Injured: PA Parenteau (concussion)

Leading Scorer: Max Pacioretty (21-17-38)
Ice Time Leader: P.K. Subban (25:21)

Status report: Daley returns after missing the past three games because of an undisclosed injury. … Parenteau is out for the sixth time in his past eight games.

Who's hot: Spezza has five points (one goal, four assists) during a four-game point streak. Seguin has two goals and two assists in his past three games. … Markov has seven assists in his past five games. Pacioretty had 10 points (seven goals, three assists) during a seven-game point streak that ended a week ago in Montreal's 2-1 overtime win against Nashville. He scored goals in six straight games to begin the streak.

All Time Record vs. Dallas: 72-33-21 (.655 Point %)


Last Meeting:

06/12/14


MTL 1 - DAL 4



Tonight's Refs:

Marc Joanette (#25)
Games Refereed: 967
Verdun, QC

Jean Hebert (#15)
Games Refereed: 139
Moncton, NB

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habs_93 Hockey Guru / Grand manitou

habs_93

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Hockey!

The All-star weekend is so boring for the NHL. They should just scrap the whole darn thing.

I think the current format has peaked. The fantasy draft thing can never get any better than Kessel being traded for Seguin. Go back to World vs. North America or something, and make other changes.

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roy_133 Hockey Guru / Grand manitou

roy_133

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This will be a frustrating loss



I think the current format has peaked. The fantasy draft thing can never get any better than Kessel being traded for Seguin. Go back to World vs. North America or something, and make other changes.

It's destined to be awful the older you get for sure, at least perhaps changing formats every so often will keep it fresh. The fantasy draft is another night of content though so it will likely stick.

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