Home Ice Tough on Sharks
Mike Modano and Jeremy Roenick are two of the best American-born players in NHL history. Both have an opportunity to add milestones to their impressive resumes Wednesday night.
Modano and the Dallas Stars try to build on their best game of the season while Roenick and the San Jose Sharks look to win only their second home game as the teams meet for the second time in 10 days.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made San Jose -142 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 56% of bets for this game have been placed on San Jose -142 (View NHL Bet Percentages).
Modano has 1,231 career points, one away from tying Phil Housley for the most by an American-born player. He is already the leading U.S. goal-with 509.
Points, however, have been hard to come by lately for Modano, who is scoreless in three straight games since picking up an assist in Dallas’ 4-2 loss to San Jose on Oct. 29.
While Modano has spent all 18 of his seasons with the Stars’ franchise, Roenick is in his first season with San Jose.
Also drafted in the first round in 1988, Roenick is one goal away from joining Modano and Joe Mullen as the only American-born players with 500. He would become the 40th player in NHL history to reach that milestone, and the first since Modano against Philadelphia on March 13.
"I came here to be in a winning organization, to enjoy playing the game again and have an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup," Roenick said. "That is the only reason I came back. The 500 goals had no basis on me coming back.
"It’s going to be nice getting 500, but I came back for a bigger and better reason. I’m really blessed to be a part of a first-class organization and I’m excited every day that I come to the rink."
Although Modano was held pointless, the Stars had no trouble Monday against Anaheim in the opener of a four-game road trip against Pacific Division teams. Marty Turco stopped 19 shots for his 31st career shutout, and Jere Lehtinen had a goal and two assists as Dallas ended a three-game skid with a 5-0 victory.
"We’ve been playing like dog meat, so it was important for us to execute and be aggressive and play hard for an entire game regardless of the score and who it was against," Turco said. "We’re a defensive team, so that’s a shutout that everybody feels good about."
Mike Ribeiro also had a goal and two assists for the Stars (6-6-2), winners of two straight on the road by a combined 10-3 score.
The line of Brenden Morrow, Ribeiro and Lehtinen has combined for 13 goals and 20 assists in the past nine games with Ribeiro posting five goals and nine assists in that span.
San Jose (7-6-1), which has played a Western Conference-low four home games, is coming off a home-and-home split against Los Angeles. The Sharks lost 5-2 at home on Friday before rebounding for a 3-1 victory at Los Angeles the next night.
Roenick’s fourth goal of the season midway through the second period Saturday was his third game-winner.
Top-line center Joe Thornton had two assists Saturday, giving him two goals and four assists during a four-game point streak. He has a goal and eight assists in his last six games against Dallas.
Sharks rookie Devin Setoguchi scored his first two NHL goals in San Jose’s 4-2 victory at Dallas on Oct. 29. The Stars, though, have won three straight at San Jose.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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