The Dallas Stars will try to bring a nine-game road losing streak to a halt when they begin a three-game trip tonight versus the Vancouver Canucks at General Motors Place.
The Stars begin their trek having not won as the guest since December 11. Dallas' inability to win games on the road, where it is 7-12-6 this year, has also prevented the club from putting together consistent strings of victories.
The team has won two straight at home after dropping six of seven overall, and tonight will try for its first three-game winning streak of the season. Monday's 4-3 victory over Minnesota gave Dallas just its fourth two-game surge of 2009-10.
Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen both notched a goal and an assist in Monday's win, with Eriksson now having eight goals and four helpers over his last 11 games and a team-best 20 tallies on the season.
Mike Modano and Tom Wandell each scored for Dallas, which is 11-2-2 in its last 15 at home and notched its 11th straight win as the host over Minnesota. Brad Richards ended with three assists and Alex Auld made 22 saves to pick up the win.
"I would like every game to be played perfectly, but I don't think there is such a thing," said Dallas head coach Marc Crawford. "But I liked a lot of aspects of our game tonight and I think we're starting to build some good qualities in the group."
The Stars are tied for 10th in the Western Conference and are four points back of a playoff spot, but will begin their road trip minus two key players. Jere Lehtinen, who missed time earlier this season due to groin and abdominal injuries, was placed on injured reserve Tuesday because of an upper-body problem, while Brenden Morrow is likely to miss a second straight game because of an upper-body issue of his own.
The Canucks will look to deal the Stars a 10th straight road loss one night after rallying to hand the Edmonton Oilers their ninth consecutive defeat in a row. Vancouver went 3-for-4 on the power play in last night's 3-2 overtime win, getting both Sami Salo's game-tying goal and Daniel Sedin's winner on the man advantage.
Salo scored with 4:06 left in the third period and Sedin's winner came 1:39 into overtime. Alexandre Burrows also scored for the 12th time in his last nine games for the Canucks, who have won two straight following a three-game slide.
Daniel Sedin also ended with two assists for Vancouver and brother Henrik notched an assist on all three goals, upping his NHL-leading points total to 70. Henrik is also second in the league with 49 assists and has amassed eight goals and 38 helpers over his last 26 games, a span in which he has 17 multi- point outings.
"Four-on-four, four-on-three, they're going to work their magic," Burrows said of the Sedins. "When they've got so much time and room to make plays, they're going to make you pay."
Roberto Luongo made 31 saves in his 20th straight start for the Canucks, who got both Aaron Rome and Steve Bernier back into the lineup last night. However, defenseman Willie Mitchell is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
The Canucks trail the Avalanche by two points for first place in the Northwest Division and begin a four-game homestand tonight. They have won five of seven and nine of their last 13 at home.
Vancouver has won two of three versus Dallas this year and four of the last five in the series overall. The Stars have dropped two straight and five of their last seven at GM Place.
