The Anaheim Ducks will be seeking their third straight win in the lone game on the NHL's schedule Tuesday night.
Anaheim (17-6-3) completes its brief two-game road trip against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN, NHLN-CA, RDS2). Dallas (11-9-2) has lost its past two games and has fallen to the bottom of the Central Division standings.
The Ducks will be without some key defensemen Tuesday. Francois Beauchemin was placed on injured reserve last week after he sustained an upper-body injury in a game against the New Jersey Devils and is not eligible to return until Wednesday. Bryan Allen went down with a lower-body injury Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes and will also not make the trip.
"Bryan wasn't out there, so he's not coming on the trip," coach Bruce Boudreau told the Ducks website. "Beauch wasn't at practice, so you know he's not coming on the trip."
Still, Anaheim enters Tuesday tied for second in the League standings with 37 points. A big reason for that has been the play of the Ducks' top line, which consists of Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The three have combined for 32 goals and 69 points this season.
"You go down the road, they're probably the highest scoring line in the League," Boudreau said. "You take away [Alex] Ovechkin's 20 [goals], I don't know how many his linemates have. There are [32] goals between the three of them. They're feeling it right now, and they're playing pretty well."
Dallas has dropped two games in a row for the first time this month after a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers last Thursday followed by a 6-1 loss against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
"It's hard to win. I took a peek at the standings the other day and the top eight teams in the League are all in the West, so you gotta find a way to get as many points as you can. … It's not easy to get into those playoffs," forward Jamie Benn said.
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