Avalanche at Stars preview

AVALANCHE (4-1-0) at STARS (1-3-0)
8 p.m. ET; FW-SW, ALT, NHL.TV

The Stars have the NHL's second-worst even-strength shooting percentage (3.6 percent; four goals on 110 shots). Defenseman Dan Hamhuis returns to the lineup after missing two games with a groin injury and will be paired with Stephen Johns.
Semyon Varlamov will start the second half of the back-to-back for Colorado and is 3-0-0 this season. Ben Bishop will make his third straight start for Dallas.

Players to watch

Forward Sven Andrighetto leads the Avalanche with six points (three goals, three assists) in five games and had two assists in the win against the Ducks.
Stars defenseman John Klingberg has five points (two goals, three assists) in his first four games.

They said it

"We're thinking about this year. I'm happy with what we're seeing, but the work's just begun and our guys know that. We know we have something to prove. Respect is going to be earned every day and it's going to take the whole season to earn it back." -- Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on the differences from last season
"I think if you look at scoring chances and Grade A scoring chances we're averaging enough to win games and over the course of the year it will work itself out. Maybe guys are just gripping the sticks a little, maybe feeling it a little bit, it's kind of an unexplainable feeling where you're not comfortable around the net, myself included. Once you get the ball rolling, that's what's going to happen for us soon." -- Stars forward Brett Ritchie on his team's slow start offensively

Avalanche projected lineup

Sven Andrighetto -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Alexander Kerfoot -- Matt Duchene -- Nail Yakupov
Gabriel Landeskog -- J.T. Compher -- Colin Wilson
Matt Nieto -- Carl Soderberg -- Blake Comeau
Nikita Zadorov -- Erik Johnson
Patrik Nemeth -- Tyson Barrie
Mark Barberio -- Chris Bigras
Semyon Varlamov
Jonathan Bernier
Scratched:Anton Lindholm, Andrei Mironov
Injured:Sergei Boikov (shoulder), Tyson Jost (knee)

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark -- Jason Spezza -- Brett Ritchie
Remi Elie -- Martin Hanzal -- Devin Shore
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Marc Methot -- John Klingberg
Esa Lindell -- Julius Honka
Dan Hamhuis -- Stephen Johns
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched:Jamie Oleksiak, Greg Pateryn, Gemel Smith
Injured: None

Status report

Nemeth returns to Dallas for the first time since he was claimed by Colorado on waivers on Oct. 3. ... Colorado cancelled its morning skate with back-to-back games. The Stars held an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Stars coach Ken Hitchcock has 782 career wins, tied with Al Arbour for third-most in NHL history. ... The Avalanche have won four of their first five games for the fourth time since moving to Colorado. The Avalanche lead the NHL with five empty-net goals.