northernlou
Idi Admin
Preview: Dallas at Montreal
7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Engaged in a fierce battle with reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago and St. Louis for supremacy in the Central Division, the Dallas Stars go for their third straight victory when they visit the sliding Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Dallas has bounced back from a four-game skid to win two in a row and remain tied with the Blackhawks atop the division.
The Stars eked out a 2-1 win at Ottawa on Sunday on a late goal by Antoine Roussel to improve to 19-10-6 away from home, but coach Lindy Ruff was hardly satisfied with the team's performance. "It might be the worst puck moving game for missing passes and not making plays in the three years I've coached here," Ruff said. The Canadiens completed a winless four-game road trip (0-3-1) with a 4-2 setback at Winnipeg on Saturday, but they hope to regain some momentum at the Bell Centre in the opener of a four-game homestand. Sitting nine points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Montreal is riding a six-game home point streak (5-0-1).
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), RDS, Sportsnet (Montreal), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE STARS (40-20-7): Captain Jamie Benn led the league in scoring last season and tops Dallas with 72 points this season, but he is mired in a six-game goalless drought - a span in which he checks in at a minus-9. "Sometimes, you try too hard and try to do too much, and it doesn't help yourself or your team," Benn said. "I have to find a way to keep it as simple as possible." While Benn and second-leading scorer Tyler Seguin are mired in slumps, center Jason Spezza has scored in three straight games and has six goals in his last seven contests.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (30-30-6): Montreal has been ravaged by injuries and the trend continued in the loss at Winnipeg as red-hot Alex Galchenyuk and forward Brendan Gallagher were injured. Gallagher (lower body) already has been ruled out of Tuesday's contest while Galchenyuk (upper body), who scored twice against Winnipeg and has seven goals in his last six games, is questionable along with forward Lars Eller (lower body). None of those players were at Monday's practice for the Canadiens, who scored only eight goals during the four-game road trip.
OVERTIME
1. Benn has five goals and nine points in seven games versus the Canadiens.
2. Montreal is 0-for-14 on the power play over the past five contests.
3. Stars D John Klingberg and F Patrick Sharp are not expected to play but F Patrick Eaves appears set to rejoin the lineup after a seven-game absence.
Trends
Stars are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Montreal.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_11.html
7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Engaged in a fierce battle with reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago and St. Louis for supremacy in the Central Division, the Dallas Stars go for their third straight victory when they visit the sliding Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Dallas has bounced back from a four-game skid to win two in a row and remain tied with the Blackhawks atop the division.
The Stars eked out a 2-1 win at Ottawa on Sunday on a late goal by Antoine Roussel to improve to 19-10-6 away from home, but coach Lindy Ruff was hardly satisfied with the team's performance. "It might be the worst puck moving game for missing passes and not making plays in the three years I've coached here," Ruff said. The Canadiens completed a winless four-game road trip (0-3-1) with a 4-2 setback at Winnipeg on Saturday, but they hope to regain some momentum at the Bell Centre in the opener of a four-game homestand. Sitting nine points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Montreal is riding a six-game home point streak (5-0-1).
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), RDS, Sportsnet (Montreal), NHL.TV
ABOUT THE STARS (40-20-7): Captain Jamie Benn led the league in scoring last season and tops Dallas with 72 points this season, but he is mired in a six-game goalless drought - a span in which he checks in at a minus-9. "Sometimes, you try too hard and try to do too much, and it doesn't help yourself or your team," Benn said. "I have to find a way to keep it as simple as possible." While Benn and second-leading scorer Tyler Seguin are mired in slumps, center Jason Spezza has scored in three straight games and has six goals in his last seven contests.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (30-30-6): Montreal has been ravaged by injuries and the trend continued in the loss at Winnipeg as red-hot Alex Galchenyuk and forward Brendan Gallagher were injured. Gallagher (lower body) already has been ruled out of Tuesday's contest while Galchenyuk (upper body), who scored twice against Winnipeg and has seven goals in his last six games, is questionable along with forward Lars Eller (lower body). None of those players were at Monday's practice for the Canadiens, who scored only eight goals during the four-game road trip.
OVERTIME
1. Benn has five goals and nine points in seven games versus the Canadiens.
2. Montreal is 0-for-14 on the power play over the past five contests.
3. Stars D John Klingberg and F Patrick Sharp are not expected to play but F Patrick Eaves appears set to rejoin the lineup after a seven-game absence.
Trends
Stars are 1-4 in the last 5 meetings in Montreal.
http://www.covers.com/pageLoader/pageLoader.aspx?page=/data/nhl/matchups/g2_preview_11.html
