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New York Rangers vs Dallas Stars: Another must win game

By Steve Paulus

DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Roman Polak #45 of the Dallas Stars and Esa Lindell #23 of the Dallas Stars fight against Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers, Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers and Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers in the third period at American Airlines Center on March 05, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Roman Polak #45 of the Dallas Stars and Esa Lindell #23 of the Dallas Stars fight against Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers, Pavel Buchnevich #89 of the New York Rangers and Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers in the third period at American Airlines Center on March 05, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Dallas Stars celebrate after scoring against the New York Rangers (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Dallas Stars celebrate after scoring against the New York Rangers (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

About the Stars

The Stars are in third place in the Central Division with a record of 37-23-8 and 82 points.   They are not in a desperate playoff situation as they are eight points behind second place Colorado and four points ahead of Winnipeg who occupies the first wild card slot.

Dallas has some cause for concern.  They haven’t won in their last five games, going 0-3-2 and have won only three games since the middle of February.  Winnipeg has won three in a row and pose a threat to the Stars.  That means, like the Rangers, they have a lot to play for.

All season, the Stars have been offensively challenged.  They have scored all of seven goals in their last five games and have suffered two straight shutouts in a home-and-home to Nashville.

Dallas is sixth worst in the league, averaging 2.59 goals per game.  Their saving grace is the fact that they have the second best defense in the league, allowing only 2.50 goals per game.

One of the biggest questions in the NHL is what has happened to their offense.  Tyler Seguin leads the team with 50 points and Denis Gurianov leads with 20 goals, the only player to hit that mark. Jamie Benn has been a consistent 30 goal scorer and this season has 19. Seguin had 73 goals over the last two seasons and this year he has scored 17.  Alexander Radulov has dropped from 29 goals last season to only 15 this year.  Practically every Dallas player has seen a decline from prior production.

When it comes to special teams, the Stars are nothing to write home about.  They are 14th in the league on the power play at 20.9% efficiency.  Their penalty kill is 17th overall at 79.5%.

The Stars do play well at home with a 19-11-3 record, but they haven’t been playing well lately.  They have won only four of their last ten home games.  In their last four games at the American Airlines Center, they have scored four goals.

In their only meeting this season, the Stars beat the Rangers in February at Madison Square Garden 5-3.  Henrik Lundqvist was pulled after allowing four goals in two periods in his second straight start after his 1-0 shutout over the Red Wings.  The Stars have won five of their last six games against New York.

Ben Bishop should get the start tonight.  He has given the Rangers fits with an 11-2-0 career record, a 1.77 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.  He has had three shutouts in 14 career starts, mostly with Tampa.

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