Stars seek fourth straight win in 'huge' clash with Avalanche

The Dallas Stars face a key game against one of the teams they are battling in the playoff race tonight when they take on the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center (7:30 p.m. CT; FS-SW; KTCK).
The Stars, who have won three in a row and four of their last five, are in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference with 73 points (34-27-5). They have a three-point lead over Colorado, which currently sits just outside the playoff bubble and in ninth place in the West.
It's the so-called "four-point game" where the Stars can push their lead to five points over Colorado with a regulation win, and the Avalanche can pull to within one if they can win in regulation.

"It's tight, and you obviously think about it, but all games matter so much now," said Stars defenseman John Klingberg. "Even if it's a division team, or like we played the Rangers the last game, it's all huge games right now. [Tonight,] you can separate with four points instead of two, so maybe that's a little bit of a mindset."
The Avalanche have won the first two meetings against the Stars this season, but both those games were in Denver.
"Their top line has beaten us twice. And special teams," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "We have to be better in both those areas. Having the last change [at home] is going to help, especially with the first line."
Colorado's top line of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen combined for 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in the two victories against Dallas.

With Radek Faksa out tonight for the Stars due to a neck injury, Jason Dickinson could see a lot of time in a shutdown role against the MacKinnon line. Dickinson skated on the second line this morning with Jamie Benn and Blake Comeau on his wings.
"Dickinson has been excellent all year long," Montgomery said. "To have him and Faksa as two centers that can match up and shut down other people's top lines is a luxury for us, and we are lucky that we have both of them."
Forward Alexander Radulov is back in the lineup tonight after sitting out Tuesday as a healthy scratch for being late to that morning's pregame skate. Radulov will skate in his usual spot on a line with Tyler Seguin and Roope Hintz.
Forward Andrew Cogliano returns tonight after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury. He'll play on the fourth line with Joel L'Esperance and Valeri Nichushkin.
Tonight's other line will have Jason Spezza centering Mattias Janmark and Brett Ritchie.
The Stars will roll out these defense pairs against Colorado: Miro Heiskanen-John Klingberg; Esa Lindell-Roman Polak; Taylor Fedun-Ben Lovejoy. Jamie Oleksiak and Julius Honka will be healthy scratches.
Ben Bishop gets the start in goal. Bishop is coming off a 28-save shutout in Tuesday's 1-0 win over the New York Rangers.

Faksa 'day-to-day' for time being

Stars center Radek Faksa, who is out tonight with a neck injury, did not take part in this morning's pregame skate at American Airlines Center. Faksa was injured Tuesday when he was hit into the boards by Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad.
"Not a player tonight," Montgomery said. "Day-to-day until he feels like a player, then he'll be a player."

Opposition watch: Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche (29-26-12-70 points) rallied for a 4-3 overtime win over Detroit in Denver on Tuesday night.
Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie tied the game with 1:35 left in regulation and Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winner 2:29 into the extra period as Colorado won for just the second time in 13 decisions in overtime (2-11).
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov is out tonight with an upper-body injury suffered in Tuesday's game. Semyon Varlamov is the expected starter in goal.
Colorado comes into tonight's game two points behind Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the West and, as mentioned earlier, three points behind the Stars.

Fast facts

• This is the third of four meetings between the Stars and Avalanche this season. The Stars are 0-2-0 in the season series, falling 3-2 in Denver on Nov. 24 and 6-4 in Denver on Dec. 15.
• The Stars are 20-10-2 at home.
• The Avalanche are 15-14-6 on the road.
• The Stars are 10-7-2 vs. the Central Division.
• The Avalanche are 8-8-3 vs. the Central Division.
• The Stars are 10-6-1-21 points since the All-Star break.
• The Avalanche are 7-6-4-18 points since the All-Star break.
• The Stars rank third in the NHL in goals against at 2.58 per game.
• The Avalanche rank ninth in goal scoring at 3.27 per game.
• The Stars rank seventh in the league on the penalty kill at 82.0 percent.
• The Avalanche rank seventh on the power play at 22.7 percent.
• Seguin leads the Stars in scoring with 60 points (27 goals, 33 assists).
• Rantanen leads the Avalanche in scoring with 85 points (29 goals, 56 assists).

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Tonight's game

Who:Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars
Where:American Airlines Center
When: 7:30 p.m.
TV:Fox Sports Southwest
Radio:The Ticket 1310-AM/96.7-FM

Stars projected lineup

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

Avalanche projected lineup

Gabriel Landeskog - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Colin Wilson - Carl Soderberg - J.T. Compher
Derick Brassard - Tyson Jost - Matt Calvert
Andrew Agozzino - Alexander Kerfoot - Sven Andrighetto
Samuel Girard - Erik Johnson
Ian Cole - Tyson Barrie
Patrik Nemeth - Ryan Graves
Semyon Varlamov
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Gabriel Bourque, Sheldon Dries
Injured:Mark Barberio (leg), Vladislav Kamenev (shoulder), Matt Nieto (leg), Nikita Zadorov (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.