Stars at Panthers preview
Dallas' Pavelski set for 1,000th NHL game; Bobrovsky to start seventh straight for Florida
by Alain Poupart / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
STARS (20-12-4) at PANTHERS (16-12-5)
7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-SW, NHL.TV
The Game
Joe Pavelski will play in his 1,000th NHL game when the Dallas Stars visit the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on Friday.
The 35-year-old forward signed a three-year contract with the Stars on July 1 after playing the first 13 seasons of his NHL career with the San Jose Sharks. He has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 36 games this season and 776 points (362 goals, 414 assists) in his 999 League games.
The Stars eye their sixth win in eight games; they're 5-1-1 in their past seven games following a four-game winless streak (0-3-1).
The Panthers will play the final game of a nine-game homestand, the longest in their history; they're 4-4-0 in the first eight games and 4-7-0 in their past 11 games.
Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to make his seventh consecutive start for Florida; he's 3-3-0 with a 1.69 goals-against average and .953 save percentage in his past six.
Players to watch
Stars forward Alexander Radulov has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a six-game point streak and 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in eight career games against Florida.
Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau has 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in his past seven games, including an NHL career-high four assists in a 6-1 win against the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
They said it
"We are certainly not happy with the performance. We're happy with the result, and tomorrow I can assure you we are going to be a much better team." -- Stars center Jason Dickinson after Dallas defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in a shootout on Thursday despite being outshot 48-20
"We definitely wish we had accomplished a bit more on [the homestand], but at the end of the day that's in the past. We have the opportunity to be over .500 with a win tonight, so that's where our focus is." -- Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Denis Gurianov -- Jason Dickinson -- Corey Perry
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera -- Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Taylor Fedun, Justin Dowling
Injured: None
Panthers projected lineup
Frank Vatrano -- Aleksander Barkov -- Brett Connolly
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Noel Acciari
Mike Hoffman -- Brian Boyle -- Evgenii Dadonov
Colton Sceviour -- Dominic Toninato -- Mark Pysyk
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
MacKenzie Weegar -- Anton Stralman
Mike Matheson -- Josh Brown
Sergei Bobrovsky
Chris Driedger
Scratched: Denis Malgin
Injured: Jayce Hawryluk (upper body)
Status report
The Stars did not hold a morning skate. … Boyle, a late scratch Monday because of an upper-body injury, took part in an optional morning skate and will be a game-time decision.
Stat pack
Seguin has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak and 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in his past eight games against Florida. … Yandle has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his past nine games.