Stars-Blackhawks Preview

Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks
Tuesday February 9
7:30 pm
TV: FSN | Radio: KTCK 1310-AM

The Stars (26-21-11) are coming off a 4-0 win over Phoenix at the American Airlines Center Saturday. It was the Stars' 10th win in their last 12 home games. Marty Turco stopped 34 shots for his third shutout of the season and the Stars scored twice in the first and two more times in the second to take control of the game.

"We had a strong game tonight,” Stars coach Marc Crawford said. “We haven’t had a lot of games where we’re really comfortable coming into the third period. We did a lot of things that we needed to do. We knew they were a team that this was their third in four nights with travel, and you’ve got to make it a hard game."

Turco is expected in goal for the Stars, who are kicking off a three-game road trip with Tuesday's game.

The Stars activated Mike Ribeiro from IR on Monday and placed D Mark Fistric on IR. RW Ray Sawada and LW Francis Wathier were recalled from Texas (AHL).

Injuries: LW Steve Ott (appendix), D Mark Fistric (knee), LW Brian Sutherby (shoulder) and C Tom Wandell (ACL) are out.

The Blackhawks (38-15-5) snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) with a 2-1 win in St. Louis Saturday night. Antti Niemi had 34 saves and Jonathan Toews had one goal and one assist as he, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp were reunited on a line.

“We worked hard, got off to a good start and we knew it was going to be a tight game for three periods,” Toews said. “That’s a good win, and that’s the kind of effort we need to keep showing up with every night.”

Niemi will get the start against the Stars.

The Blackhawks are opening a two-game homestand with Tuesday's game.

Injuries: RW Adam Burish (knee) is out.

• This is the third of four meetings between the two teams. The Stars are 2-0-0 in the season series and the Blackhawks are 0-2-0. 

• The Stars are 1-10-2 in their last 13 road games.
• Chicago has one win in its last four home games (1-2-1).
• Stars goalie Marty Turco is 2-1-0 in his last three starts and has stopped 98 of 101 shots.
• The Blackhawks have scored seven goals over their last four games.
• The Stars have allowed just one power play goal in their last five games and are 11-12 on the penalty kill during that stretch.
• The Blackhawks are 0-16 on the power play in their last five games and 1-22 over the last seven.
• Stars rookie Jamie Benn has four goals in his last five games.