What in the world is happening to Dallas? The Stars crashed to their third consecutive defeat with a gut-wrenching 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. It was a disappointing result for the Stars who lost for the third straight time to the Blues. They will look to get their season back on track when they face the LA Kings tonight. The Stars will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Kings on the road of late. The Stars have won three of their last four meetings with the Kings at Staples Center. They have outscored the Kings, 12-7, during that span. Dallas edged past LA, 3-2, in their last encounter in this arena.
For the Stars to snap their losing streak tonight, they will need to focus on their offense once again. Dallas is ranked 19th in goals per game this campaign after finishing with the second-ranked offense last season. No wonder they are playing just .500 hockey in their last 10 games. The onus then is on Tyler Seguin to provide the scoring punch for the Stars tonight. He leads Dallas in goals (14) and assists (25) this season. Seguin was a non-factor in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Blues as he was limited to just one shot over 18:27 of ice time.
The Los Angeles Kings returned to winning ways Saturday with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild. Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, Jake Muzzin and Tanner Pearson scored the goals for the Kings who have now won three of their last four outings. Key to the Kings’ resurgence has been their incredible offense. They have scored a whopping nine goals during this four-game stretch. Providing the impetus for the Kings’ winning run is the red-hot Pearson. He has scored four goals in his last six games, including the overtime match-winner against the Wild.
Next up for the surging Kings is a clash with the Dallas Stars. The Kings have won three of their last five meetings against the Stars. For the Kings to record the much-needed victory tonight, they will need Carter to continue his fine play. He scored three points in the win against Minnesota, giving him 12 in his last nine games. Carter leads the Kings not only in points (36) but also in goals scored (22) this season.
