Dallas Stars to rebound against Columbus Blue Jackets - NHL Preview
After going down 4-1 against the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 the Dallas Stars could not have wished for a better fixture to bounce back into playoff contention as they face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday at the Nationwide
Arena.
The Stars are currently 12th in the Western Conference with a 27-23-2 record but luckily for them are just two points adrift of the final playoff spot.
Facing the Columbus Blue Jackets for any side is a great opportunity to return back to winning ways and Dallas will be hoping for much of the same as they look to rebound from their 4-1 pounding at the hands of the Coyotes.
The Stars helped greatly by the brilliant performance of goaltender Kari Lehtonen defeated the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in a shootout to come closer to the playoff spot but that good work was all but ruined by the defeat to Phoenix.
Defenseman Sheldon Souray was unimpressed with his team’s performance against Phoenix and after the game warned his teammates that such performances will ruin their chances of making the coveted playoff rounds and they should not drop anymore points.
"We've gotten by with a really good goaltender the last three or four games, and it's just not good enough," defenseman Sheldon Souray said.
"We can talk about it and try to figure it out, but as a whole we've been letting each other down these last three or four games, especially with how important this stretch of games is, and what it means."
For the Blue Jackets fans the taste of victory has been rare and their team ranks as the worst team in the National Hockey League (NHL) this season.
Columbus has a league worse 15-32-6 record but have recently stringed together a couple of wins to lift the spirits in the dressing room.
The Blue Jackets defeated Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in overtime on the road and returned to the Nationwide Arena with a 3-1 win over Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.
The bad news for Columbus though is that they failed to string a three game winning run throughout the season and with Dallas pumped up and competing for the playoffs the chances of doing that on Thursday are not great.
Recommendation: Tough game but Dallas Stars will likely win.
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