At the Rink: Oilers at Stars

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars will try to end a four-game losing streak (0-3-1) on Thursday when they play the Edmonton Oilers at American Airlines Center (8:30 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-SW).

The Stars, who are 1-5-2 in January, are happy to return home, where they are 17-5-0, after losing eight straight (0-5-3) on the road, including an 0-2-1 California trip.

"If you're going to lose them on the road, you got to come home and win. It was one of the things we set out to do, was improve the home record and so far we have," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "Coming back off a road trip is always a tough one, but it's a game here in our building that we look at to turn things around."

Ruff made several changes to his forward lines from a 3-2 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, moving Patrick Sharp, who had skated on the right side of the second line with center Cody Eakin and forward Valeri Nichushkin, to the top line with center Tyler Seguin and forward Jamie Benn.

Jason Spezza, who was on the top line with Seguin and Benn, dropped back to the second line alongside Eakin and Nichushkin.

Ruff also made one change to his fourth line, plugging Patrick Eaves in on the right side alongside center Vernon Fiddler and forward Travis Moen; Eaves replaces Colton Sceviour, who is a healthy scratch.

Ruff is also making one change to his defense pairs, replacing Patrik Nemeth on the third pair with Jyrki Jokipakka alongside rookie Esa Lindell, who made his NHL debut Tuesday.

Dallas goalie Antti Niemi will start.

Edmonton has one win in the past nine road games (1-5-2), so coach Todd McLellan is making several changes to his forward lines. Benoit Pouliot moves from the left side of the second line to centering a line with Rob Klinkhammer and Jordan Eberle on his wings.

"[Pouliot] has played there before," McLellan said. "He's loaded with experience. He has some size and I think it'll engage him fully in the game. He's got to be involved every second of every shift that he's on the ice because you're playing in the middle, so we hope to get a good game out of him."

Klinkhammer, who was recalled from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Tuesday after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was placed on injured reserve with a hand injury, last played for the Oilers on Jan. 12 at the Arizona Coyotes.

"We expect him to skate and use the assets that he has, prove that we made a mistake by sending him [to the AHL] and have an impact on the game," McLellan.

With Klinkhammer returning, Matt Hendricks, who centered the second line in a 6-4 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, drops to the fourth line alongside center Anton Lander and Nail Yakupov, making Luke Gazdic a healthy scratch.

Oilers goalie Cam Talbot will start for the fourth time in the past five games.

Here are the projected lineups:

OILERS

Taylor Hall – Leon Draisaitl – Teddy Purcell

Rob Klinkhammer - Benoit Pouliot – Jordan Eberle

Zack Kassian – Mark Letestu – Iiro Pakarinen

Matt Hendricks – Anton Lander – Nail Yakupov

Andrej Sekera – Mark Fayne

Brandon Davidson – Justin Schultz

Darnell Nurse – Eric Gryba

Cam Talbot

Anders Nilsson

Injured: Andrew Ference (undisclosed), Oscar Klefbom (finger), Lauri Korpikoski (foot), Connor McDavid (clavicle), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (hand)

Scratched: Luke Gazdic, Brad Hunt

STARS

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Patrick Sharp

Valeri Nichushkin – Cody Eakin – Jason Spezza

Antoine Roussel – Mattias Janmark – Ales Hemsky

Travis Moen – Vernon Fiddler – Patrick Eaves

Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg

Johnny Oduya – Jason Demers

Esa Lindell – Jyrki Jokipakka

Antti Niemi

Kari Lehtonen

Injured: Jordie Benn (lower body)

Scratched: Patrik Nemeth, Colton Sceviour

Status report: McLellan said Nugent-Hopkins was having surgery on Thursday morning but offered no timeframe for his return. … Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak remains with Texas of the AHL on a conditioning assignment.

Who's hot: Hall leads the Oilers with 18 goals and 46 points. He ranks third in the NHL with 185 shots on goal. … Dallas has points in 15 of its past 16 home games against Edmonton. … Niemi is 11-1-3 with a 2.41 goals-against average in 15 career games against the Oilers. … Spezza has points in eight of his past 10 games. … Sharp has 27 points (14 assists) in 34 career games against Edmonton.