Stars hit road to face Sharks with playoff hopes fading
After winning the Central Division during a 109-point campaign last season, the Dallas Stars have no more than an outside chance at returning to the playoffs.
Getting there won't be easy.
With opportunities to move up in the Western Conference dwindling, the Stars start a road-heavy schedule Sunday night against the Pacific Division-leading San Jose Sharks.
Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, the Stars (27-30-10) and Sharks (40-20-7) haven't met this season.
"It is weird (that we haven't played them yet)," Stars coach Lindy Ruff told the team's official website. "(The Sharks) play a real up-tempo, speed game. It's going to be a good test."
Dallas has had the upper hand in recent matchups, scoring 17 goals and giving up just 10 while posting a 3-0-1 record.
The Stars have 64 points and are ahead of only the Arizona Coyotes and Colorado Avalanche in the West. Their schedule the rest of the way is challenging, and that's being kind. Including this game, the Stars will play 10 of their final 15 games on the road -- and the only two home games in the next 12 are against San Jose.
The Stars are 9-18-4 on the road and looking to win their third straight away from home. In the wake of a 5-2 home loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, Ruff noted that the team appears to have a different approach to games depending on where they're played.
"A lot of times, we play a simpler game on the road than we do at home," he told the Stars' website on Friday.
It appears only one of the Stars' goaltenders is up to the task of keeping things simpler on the road. Of the 61 NHL netminders who have appeared in a road game this season, Kari Lehtonen is near the middle of the pack with a 2.87 goals-against average and Antti Niemi is last with a 4.27 GAA.
Lehtonen is 1-3-2 with a 3.06 GAA in his last six games in San Jose. Niemi, who played for San Jose from 2010 to 2015, is 1-0-1 while turning away 69 of 75 shots in his career as a visitor to the Shark Tank.
On the road, Tyler Seguin is the Stars' top producer with 11 goals, including eight on the power play, and 20 assists in 31 games, followed by Jamie Benn with 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 28 games.
Seguin has five goals and five assists in a five-game points streak against the Sharks. Meanwhile, Benn has a three-game points streak in northern California with three goals and three assists.
The Sharks have split the first two games on their season-high six-game homestand after a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday afternoon.
"I liked our first period and then we stopped playing," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said.
Recently, DeBoer said backup goaltender Aaron Dell would see more action with the regular season winding down. Starter Martin Jones made 22 saves during his 55th game of the season on Saturday, so this would seem like a prime opportunity to have the rookie in goal.
Dell has stopped 84 of 88 shots while winning each of his last three starts dating to Feb. 18. He also has won all five of his starts at SAP Center while post a 1.40 GAA, a .944 save percentage and his only career shutout.
Jones is 1-3-0 with a 3.03 GAA and .881 save percentage all time against Dallas.
With an assist on Paul Martin's goal against Nashville, Joe Thornton extended his points streak to three games (goal, three assists). In 35 career games against Dallas with San Jose, Thornton has averaged a point per game (10 goals, 25 assists).
In his last eight games, Brent Burns has seven assists but no goals and remains at 27 for the season, tying the career high he set last season when the Sharks advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time.
Only one of Burns' five career goals against the Stars has come in San Jose.
Martin said having to play two home games in a little more than 24 hours would be beneficial for the team.
"We definitely enjoy it more than being back-to-back where you have to travel. ... It gives you an opportunity to come right back to the rink and correct a couple of things and have a quality game," he said.
