Stars seek sixth straight road win against Flames

The Dallas Stars will look to make it six straight wins on the road when they take on the Pacific Division-leading Calgary Flames tonight at Scotiabank Saddledome (8:30 p.m. CT; FS-SW; KTCK).
The Stars, coming off a big 5-2 win over Central Division-leading Winnipeg on Monday to open their four-game road trip, can move closer to securing a playoff spot with points in Calgary tonight. The Stars, who are in the first wild-card spot in the West have a three-point lead over both Arizona and Minnesota, the two teams just outside the playoff cutoff line.

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"The intensity of games has really ratcheted up since the All-Star break," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "Our team has played its best hockey and evolved. We're getting better offensively, especially on the road and we've become a much better road team. The desperation we showed in Winnipeg is something that has to carry through for the rest of the year."
The Stars (39-31-6-84 points) will make a couple of lineup changes for tonight's game. Jason Spezza will come back in at forward and play right wing on the fourth line with center Justin Dowling and left wing Valeri Nichushkin. Spezza takes the place of Brett Ritchie, who is dealing with a sore hand.
"(Ritchie is having) trouble gripping the stick. He's played well, but we've got a lot of bodies right now," Montgomery said. "Jason Spezza's career here (playing in Calgary) has been really good; last time we were here, he scored for us."
Spezza draws back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch the last two games and three of the last four.

"Just come in and add some energy to the lineup," Spezza said. "I am excited to be back in."
The top three lines will remain the same as last game including Tyler Seguin centering Jamie Benn and Jason Dickinson and Roope Hintz centering Mattias Janmark and Alexander Radulov.
On defense, Jamie Oleksiak will come in on the third pair and take the spot of Taylor Fedun, who will sit as a scratch along with Julius Honka. Montgomery said with the Stars playing at Edmonton on Thursday, the plan was to get Oleksiak into a game.
"Back-to-back games and Jamie was going to get one game," Montgomery said. "We like his matchup here with his length being able to defend against this team."
Oleksiak will skate with Ben Lovejoy. The other pairs will be Esa Lindell-John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen-Roman Polak.
Ben Bishop was the first goaltender off the ice this morning for the Stars, so he is expected to get the start tonight. Bishop has allowed two goals or fewer in his last nine complete starts.

Zuccarello OK after collision, not ready to return

Tuesday marked four weeks since Stars forward Mats Zuccarello underwent surgery for his broken arm. At the time, the Stars put a four-week time frame on Zuccarello being re-evaluated.
Montgomery provided an update on the progress of Zuccarello, who is skating with the team.
"Well, again not enough battle drills to know exactly," Montgomery said. "We're still waiting on some medical clearance from our doctors."
Zuccarello was involved in a collision with teammate Joel L'Esperance during Wednesday's pregame skate. Zuccarello headed to the locker room but returned to the ice.
"He just had a cut over his eye," Montgomery said. "Couple stitches and he'll be fine."
Stars forward Tyler Pitlick, who is working his way back from wrist surgery, also skated with the team this morning.

Opposition watch: Calgary Flames

The Flames (47-22-7) are coming off a 3-0 loss to Los Angeles Monday. Jack Campbell stopped 42 shots as the Kings snapped the Flames' winning streak at three games and prevented them from extending their lead over San Jose in the race for first place in the Pacific Division, which stands at six points. Calgary is 6-2-0 in its past eight games. David Rittich is expected to get the start in goal tonight for Calgary. Forward Sam Bennett remains out with an upper-body injury.

Just the facts

Tonight's game

Who:Dallas Stars at Calgary Flames
Where:Scotiabank Saddledome
When:8:30 p.m.
TV:Fox Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 1310-AM/96.7-FM

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Jason Dickinson
Mattias Janmark Roope Hintz - Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin - Justin Dowling - Jason Spezza
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak - Ben Lovejoy
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Julius Honka, Joel L'Esperance, Taylor Fedun
Injured: Brett Ritchie (hand), Mats Zuccarello (broken arm), Tyler Pitlick (wrist surgery), Martin Hanzal (back), Marc Methot (knee surgery), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau - Derek Ryan - Michael Frolik
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Elias Lindholm
James Neal - Sean Monahan - Austin Czarnik
Andrew Mangiapane - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic
Oscar Fantenberg - Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched:Alan Quine, Oliver Kylington, Michael Stone, Dalton Prout
Injured:Sam Bennett (upper body)
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.