STARS' TEAM SCOPE: With a 4-2 win over the Canucks on Thursday, the Stars snapped a three-game losing streak but lost captain Jamie Benn for a large chunk of the game. He suffered an upper body injury late in the second period and did not return. "He'll be assessed for Friday's game in the morning," was the only update coach Lindy Ruff provided in his post-game media address. Benn is second in team scoring with 24 goals and 63 points through 66 games this year. Tyler Seguin leads the Stars with 24 goals and 68 points on the year. Jason Spezza rounds out the top three in scoring with 12 goals and 42 points. With Kari Lehtonen getting the start last night, Dallas could turn to Antti Niemi could get the nod in Calgary. Niemi has a 11-11-4 record with a 3.35 GAA and a .892 save percentage.
FLAMES' TEAM SCOPE:The Flames dropped a 5-2 decision to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, halting their 10-game winning streak. With 82 points on the year, they sit in the first Wildcard spot in the Western Conference, trailing the Edmonton Oilers by a single point and the Anaheim Ducks by two points. "We acknowledged the streak here really is what we did this morning," Glen Gulutzan said on Thursday. "We acknowledged it for what it was, that it was a great run, it was a streak. Now we're 0-1. For us, it was just to reboot. That was our reboot. We talked about the things that we're going to focus on now as we move forward into our last 12 games. We certainly acknowledged the position we put ourselves in and the job we did and that's part of getting past it and rebooting." Defenceman Michael Stone (upper body) could return to the lineup on Friday. He practiced with the team on Thursday and Gulutzan classified him as day-to-day.
