Stars get first look at Panthers in 'important game' on road trip

The Dallas Stars will look to get back on track when they take on the Florida Panthers tonight (6 p.m. CT; FS-SW; KTCK) at BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.
The Stars (28-22-5) have dropped two straight games (0-1-1) since putting together a season-high, five-game winning streak. Both those losses have come on the road and tonight is game three of five consecutive away from home for the Stars. They wrap up the stretch at Tampa Bay on Thursday and Carolina on Saturday.
Dallas has played 28 of the NHL's 30 teams so far this season. The two teams they haven't faced yet are Florida and Carolina. The Stars get their first look at the Panthers tonight.

"We are really impressed with their skill level, their size, and their ability to make plays," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "The power play scares us, so it is important we stay out of the box."
Florida's power play is second-best in the NHL. The Panthers are 11 points out of a playoff spot in the tough Eastern Conference, but they have won six of their last nine games and those victories have come over Washington, Pittsburgh, Vegas, San Jose, Nashville, and Toronto.
"We're playing three teams this week that are playing really good, and they are teams that we don't know well," said Stars center Jason Spezza. "I think the most important thing is that we are ready to play our game off the hop. They are going to throw different wrinkles at us. They have a good power play, they have a good penalty kill. It's an important game for us because we've lost a couple. It's important that we get off to a good start."

Anton Khudobin will make his third straight start in goal tonight. Ben Bishop is still out with an upper-body injury. He took part in this morning's optional skate and is day-to-day.
"He feels real good on the ice, and he's kept up his conditioning. He just doesn't feel like he can make the saves like he can right now," Montgomery said.
Montgomery will go with the same lines he used in Monday's practice, which includes Tyler Seguin centering Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov and Jamie Benn on a line with Jason Dickinson and Blake Comeau.
There are no changes on defense with the pairs expected to be: Esa Lindell-John Klingberg; Miro Heiskanen-Roman Polak; Jamie Oleksiak-Taylor Fedun.
Julius Honka, Connor Carrick and Denis Gurianov are the expected healthy scratches.
The Stars enter tonight's game in third place in the Central Division. They lead both fourth-place St. Louis and fifth-place Minnesota by two points. They lead Vancouver, which is in ninth place in the Western Conference, by four points.

Opposition watch: Florida Panthers

The Panthers (23-23-8) are coming off a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday. Panthers goaltender Robert Luongo relieved James Reimer in Sunday's game, passing Patrick Roy for second place on the NHL's all-time list for games played by a goalie (1,030).
Luongo will get the start tonight against the Stars.
The Panthers, who are in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and 11 points out of a playoff spot, are 6-3-0 in their last nine games.

Fast facts

Tonight's game

Who:Dallas Stars at Florida Panthers
Where:BB&T Center
When:6 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
Andrew Cogliano - Jason Spezza - Brett Ritchie
Mattias Janmark - Radek Faksa - Valeri Nichushkin
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak - Taylor Fedun
Anton Khudobin
Landon Bow
Scratched:Connor Carrick, Julius Honka, Denis Gurianov
Injured:Ben Bishop (upper body), Tyler Pitlick (wrist surgery), Martin Hanzal (back), Marc Methot (knee surgery), Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Panthers projected lineup

Mike Hoffman - Aleksander Barkov - Evgenii Dadonov
Jonathan Huberdeau - Vincent Trocheck - Frank Vatrano
Derrick Brassard - Henrik Borgstrom - Denis Malgin
Jamie McGinn - Riley Sheahan - Troy Brouwer
Keith Yandle - Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson - Mark Pysyk
Bogdan Kiselevich - Josh Brown
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Ian McCoshen, Micheal Haley
Injured:Jayce Hawryluk (lower body), Derek MacKenzie (shoulder), MacKenzie Weegar (illness), Colton Sceviour (undisclosed)
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.