Looking to Rebound
The Dallas Stars look to rebound from a listless performance when they visit the last-place Los Angeles Kings, a team they have beaten in 11 of the last 13 meetings, on Saturday night.
The Stars (25-17-4), who are tied with San Jose for first in the Pacific Division, are coming off a 4-2 loss at St. Louis on Thursday – their fifth in seven games. Stars coach Dave Tippett did not appear happy with the effort.
Oddsmakers from SBG Global have made Dallas -140 money line favorites (NHL Odds) for today’s game, the over/under has been set at 5.5 goals (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 68% of bets for this game have been placed on Dallas -140 View NHL Bet Percentages).
"We had some spurts where we were around it, but we couldn’t get ahead in the game," he said. "We didn’t have enough players on board to pay the price to win tonight."
Now, Dallas hopes it can rebound with another meeting against the Kings (16-27-2), who have the fewest points in the NHL with 34.
The Stars are 11-1-1 against Los Angeles over the last two seasons, but both losses have come at Staples Center in 2007-08, 2-1 on Oct. 25 and 6-5 in overtime on Nov. 10.
Marty Turco, who is expected to start after being rested against the Blues in favor of Mike Smith, was in net for both losses after winning his previous four starts at Los Angeles. Turco is 7-1-1 with a 2.08 goals-against average in his last nine games against the Kings, including a 25-save performance in a 4-1 home win on Dec. 13.
Mike Ribeiro scored twice and had two assists in that game.
The center, who ended a six-game goal-scoring drought and added an assist Thursday, will try to help the Stars get back on track. He leads the team with 22 goals and 48 points, and has five goals and eight assists in an eight-game point streak against Los Angeles.
The Kings, meanwhile, are looking to end a six-game homestand at .500. They opened it with an impressive 9-2 win over Chicago on New Year’s Day before losing three in a row, including a 7-0 loss to Nashville on Tuesday.
Los Angeles responded with four first-period goals and a career-high 48 saves from Jason LaBarbera in beating Toronto 5-2 on Thursday.
"Obviously, we were pretty embarrassed by the loss the other night, but we swept that aside and got ready for tonight," said LaBarbera, who was pulled against the Predators for allowing three goals on seven shots in 6:40. "We knew we had to come out with a good start, and we did."
LaBarbera was chased in his last start against Dallas on Nov. 10, stopping 17 of 21 shots in two periods.
Dustin Brown, who scored two power-play goals against the Maple Leafs, has seven goals and three assists in the last 11 meetings with the Stars, but has failed to get a point in the last two. He leads the Kings with 22 goals and is second with 37 points.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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