With their road record currently sitting at 6-5-1, the Dallas Stars (11-9-2, 24 points) have clearly done a decent job of winning games away from American Airlines Center so far this season. But on Thursday night, Glen Gulutzan and company will get their first look at the reigning Stanley Cup champions as the Stars visit Staples Center for their first game of the truncated season against the Los Angeles Kings (12-7-2, 26 points).
The Kings are 7-1-1 on their home ice so far this year, including a 6-4 win over the Blues on Tuesday. In that game, LA trailed 4-1 in the second period before outscoring St. Louis 5-1 the rest of the way with Jake Muzzin scoring twice while Drew Doughty chipped in two assists and Justin Williams contributed three helpers. It was LA's second straight win and makes them 8-2-0 over their last 10 games.
Dallas beat those same Blues, 4-1 at the AAC on Sunday a performance that former Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock, now the man behind the bench with St. Louis, didn't have much to say about after the loss.
The Stars will face a Kings team that not only hoisted Lord Stanley's bowl in victorious fashion last June but also a club that has won six straight in the City of Angels. And even though Dallas has yet to face LA this season, the man behind the Stars bench definitely knows what to expect from his club's next opponent.
"I don't think they'll be much different than they were last year. We faced them the last few times when Darryl [Sutter] was the coach there. They're going to be hard-working and they're heavy," Gulutzan said. "They're a lot like the St. Louis team we played and they're stingy and they don't give you much. I think we've got to be prepared to play a disciplined, stingy game against them."
And the second-year head coach is definitely encouraged by the fact that the Stars played the Kings tough each and every time the Pacific Division foes took the ice last season.
"You look back at our year last year-we played that team pretty hard. So we feel that we're going to be in for the same game," Gulutzan said. "They've got a lot of the same personnel. We've got to play them heavy and stingy and make sure we play with a little bit more pace than hopefully they do. That's going to be the key for us."
Dallas figures to get defenseman Philip Larsen, who has missed the last few games with a shoulder injury, is expected back on the ice for the Stars, who also recalled forward Francis Wathier from the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League on Wednesday to give the club some forward depth as Gulutzan called it.
After facing the Kings at Staples, the Stars then will have a much-needed day between games to make the short trek down to Glendale in advance of Saturday's game with Phoenix. Dave Tippett's Coyotes are just ahead of Dallas in the Pacific standings with an 11-9-3 and 25 points. Phoenix is 8-4-1 at home and is 5-4-1 over their last 10 games.
The Coyotes last played on Wednesday, falling 2-0 at Anaheim. Saturday's contest will mark the fourth and final meeting between these division rivals in the regular season. The Stars have taken both of the meetings in Dallas, winning 4-3 on Jan. 19 to open the season and beating Phoenix again 4-3 in overtime on Feb. 1.
However, the Coyotes have won the lone meeting of the year in Glendale, blanking the Stars 2-0 on Feb. 2 in the second night of a back-to-back. Dallas did win for the first time this season on the second night of a back-to-back with last week's 5-4 overtime win in Columbus, so maybe seeing them leave the Grand Canyon State with their third win over the Coyotes on Saturday night isn't that big of a stretch after all.
Dallas has seemed to be a much better road team this season, delivering a huge win at Vancouver back in mid-February as well as the aforementioned win over the Blue Jackets on their home ice last week to end their futility in the second night of back-to-backs. And one thing the Stars have been doing quite well away from home is scoring goals. Hopefully that trend continues in LA and Phoenix, two tough places to play but this quick two-game jaunt out west features two very winnable games for Gulutzan's team, which would give them a nice bit of momentum heading into another run of games at home.
