Bishop back in net, Stars seek third straight win against Ducks

Stars (3-7-1) vs. Ducks (6-4-0)

DALLAS --The Stars will play their first game against a Western Conference opponent since facing Calgary on Oct. 10 and also are playing only their third Western Conference opponent of the season.
That can be good and bad, as the Stars started 3-7-1 against mostly Eastern opponents, and now can make up ground in the playoff race by gathering points within the conference.
Stars coach Jim Montgomery said that styles are different between the two conferences, and that while all teams are different, teams tend to play to the style of their conference.
"It's a different mindset," Montgomery said. "There's no question the Eastern Conference is more 'run-and-gun' than the Western Conference."
Montgomery said playing against teams like Detroit and Pittsburgh has challenged the Stars early in the season.

"Everything goes north," he said. "They don't play together, they play more stretched out games."
The Stars and Ducks have played very conservative hockey so far. Dallas ranks 30th in goals per game at 2.09. Anaheim ranks 27th at 2.40. Dallas ranks 30th in shots on goal per game at 27.9. Anaheim ranks 28th at 28.6. Anaheim ranks 30th in power play success at 4.0 percent. Dallas ranks 28th at 9.4 percent.
The Ducks are being coached by Dallas Eakins this season, and Montgomery said there is a big difference in how they play.
"They're a really mobile team, they skate great, possess the puck really well and are really committed to defending," Montgomery said. "It's a much, much different team than we saw last year."
This is likely going to be a low-scoring game, and both goalies are expected to be on top of their respective games.
Dallas plays two more Eastern Conference opponents in the next four games, but then they stay in the West for 14 straight after that.

What to watch

Corey Perry and Andrew Cogliano will be
facing their old team for the first time
since leaving Anaheim (Cogliano in a trade last January and Perry as a free agent in the summer). Both are excited about the process of playing against old friends.
Perry was bought out of the final two years of his contract by the Ducks, and while that can be an emotional experience for a player, he said that management handled it better.
"We had a good talk. No hard feelings. It's a business. You move on," Perry said. "Sometimes, change is a good thing. I'm facing what I have here."
And Perry said he is happy with his decision to sign in Dallas.

"It's a process," he said. "Some guys go through it a few times in their career. This is the first time I've ever had to do that. You take it all in. Like I said, it wasn't easy. There was a lot of great teams that had called and that were on that list.
"Fortunately, I ended up here."
Perry missed the first seven games of the season with a fractured bone in his foot, but has played well in his four games in the lineup and currently is on a line with Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn.
"They made it easy on me," he said. "The confidence, it'll come. It's continuing to grow every single day. That's what happens when you start playing with good players and you get some reps with them."

Bishop in net; former Star scratched for Ducks

Ben Bishop gets the start after playing the role of backup Monday against Ottawa.
Otherwise, the lineup is the same.
Anaheim will make Devin Shore a healthy scratch. Shore played 209 games with the Stars before being traded to Anaheim last season.

By the numbers

#

.937

In his career against Anaheim, Bishop is 8-2-2 with a 1.70 goals against average and .937 save percentage.

55.0

That's the faceoff winning percentage for the Anaheim Ducks, second best in the NHL. Anaheim is led by Ryan Getzlaf, who has won 60.3 percent of his draws. Dallas ranks 10th in faceoff wins at 51.1 percent. Tyler Seguin leads the Stars, winning 56.5 percent of his faceoffs.

6

That's how many games Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf has to reach 1,000. He and Perry came up together with the Ducks and Perry has eight games to go before he reaches 1,000

He said it

"I felt bad for him early, because he had some bad luck. But he's found himself on a nice line with Roope and Benny, and those are two guys that are pretty special to play with. I'm not worried about Perr's, he's a resilient guy, one of the most resilient I've seen in my career."
-- Cogliano on Perry, who was teammates with on the Ducks and now the Stars. Perry fractured a bone in his foot to start the season, but has since come back and found a good groove on a line with Hintz and Benn.

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Roope Hintz - Corey Perry
Jason Dickinson - Tyler Seguin - Joe Pavelski
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano - Justin Dowling - Denis Gurianov
Miro Heiskanen - John Klingberg
Andrej Sekera - Esa Lindell
Jamie Oleksiak - Taylor Fedun
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:D Joel Hanley.
Injuries:LW Blake Comeau (lower body), D Roman Polak (sternum), D Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches), C Martin Hanzal (back).

Ducks projected lineup

Max Comtois - Ryan Getzlaf - Ondrej Kase
Rickard Rakell - Adam Henrique - Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie - Sam Steel - Troy Terry
Max Jones - Derek Grant - Carter Rowney
Hampus Lindholm - Josh Manson
Brendan Guhle - Cam Fowler
Jacob Larsson - Korbinian Holzer
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.