Preview: Stars aim to stay hot in New Jersey

Dallas Stars at New Jersey Devils

About the Stars

The Stars (18-13-1) made it two for two on their current road trip, defeating the New York Islanders, 5-2, at Barclays Center on Wednesday night. Kari Lehtonen stopped 32 shots for his 300th career win and Tyler Pitlick scored two goals for the Stars, who have put together back-to-back road wins following a three-game losing streak last week.
"After the shaky week we had we wanted to bounce back and have a good road trip," said Stars captain Jamie Benn, who had one goal and two assists. "It started at MSG against the Rangers (2-1 shootout win) Monday night. We played a pretty good game. We knew these guys are a good team and have a great record in their building and it was important that we bring a similar effort that we did against the Rangers."
The Stars have won five of their last six games on the road.
RW Alexander Radulov left Wednesday's game in the third period with a lower-body injury and did not practice Thursday. His status will be determined on Friday.
Antoine Roussel, who missed the past two games with an elbow injury, is expected to play Friday.
Lehtonen will start in goal Friday against New Jersey. Ben Bishop will get the start Saturday when the Stars play at Philadelphia.
Friday's game is the third of a four-game road trip for Dallas.
Injuries: LW Antoine Roussel (elbow) is expected to play. RW Alexander Radulov (lower body) is day-to-day. D Marc Methot (knee) is out.

About the Devils

The Devils (17-9-5) lost 2-1 in overtime at Montreal Thursday. Tomas Plekanec scored 1:52 into overtime to hand New Jersey its third loss in the past four games.
"We competed hard against a team that had four or five days to sit on a tough loss, but we can't be satisfied with one (point)," said Devils goaltender Cory Schneider. "It's nice to get points on the road, but we had an opportunity to get two, and we couldn't finish it at the end. We'll take the point and head home, but that makes tomorrow's game even bigger."
Schneider stopped 34 shots, and Stefan Noesen scored the lone goal for New Jersey.
Devils leading scorer Taylor Hall (knee) missed Thursday's game. He is day-to-day. Forward Kyle Palmieri, who has missed the last 11 games with a foot injury, traveled to Montreal but did not play. He is day-to-day.
Friday's game kicks off stretch of four straight home games for New Jersey heading into the holiday break.
Injuries: LW Taylor Hall (knee) and RW Kyle Palmieri (foot) are day-to-day. LW Marcus Johansson (ankle) and D Mirco Mueller (collarbone) are out.

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Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @StarsInsideEdge.