DALLAS --After three full days between games, the Stars are back in action Saturday night against the New York Rangers at American Airlines Center. A sold-out crowd is expected to converge upon AAC as the Stars continue their push for a playoff spot in a postseason race that fluctuates by the day.
The Stars enter Saturday's game holding down the second wild card, three points behind Nashville with a game in hand. The Preds leapfrogged Dallas and built a three-point cushion courtesy of consecutive victories over the Stars and Ducks. (Nashville hosts St. Louis on Saturday afternoon). Dallas is also five points behind Minnesota for third place in the Central and one point ahead of Edmonton for the final wild card spot, though the Oilers have played two more games.
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Dallas has won four of its past five games (4-1-0) and seven of its previous 10 (7-2-1). The Stars are also riding a three-game home winning streak and have victories in five of their past six at AAC (5-1-0). Overall, they've gone 20-7-1, with their 20 victories ranking tied for fourth in the NHL.
Tyler Seguin is expected to skate in his 800th career NHL game on Saturday. In 799 games, the 30-year-old forward has amassed 668 points (298 goals, 370 assists) with Boston and Dallas, including 547 points (242 goals, 305 assists) in 596 games with the Stars. Seguin ranks eighth in Stars franchise history in points and needs just two more to tie Sergei Zubov for seventh. He also ranks 10th in goals and sits one goal shy of tying Jere Lehtinen and Brenden Morrow for eighth.
This is the finale of a four-game road trip for the Rangers, which has seen the club drop two in a row. After opening it with a 4-1 win in Winnipeg, the Rangers have lost 5-2 and 6-2 in Minnesota and St. Louis, respectively. With 77 points, the Rangers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, two points behind Pittsburgh.
Chris Kreider leads the Rangers and ranks second in the NHL with 38 goals. In just 58 games, he's shattered his previous career high of 28 and is one point away from his 400th career NHL point. The 30-year-old has been held off the scoresheet for the past two games and is a minus-6 over that span.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is 28-7-3 overall and 15-3-1 in his past 19 starts. He's earned at least one point in nine of his past 11 games (8-2-1) and has allowed two goals or less in nine of his previous 11 starts. He leads the league in goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.939), and ranks tied for fourth in wins.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.
