Thu Jan 17 12:02:45 2008

Comment | Email | Print

Sharks welcome Stars for Pacific Division showdown

---

(Sports Network) - The Dallas Stars have struggled in the new year. The club will try to avoid falling further back in the Pacific Division tonight when it battles the front-running San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

Dallas has lost three straight games and is just 2-5-1 in January after going 10-4-0 in December to vault up the standings. The Stars' recent skid has dropped them two points back of the Sharks for first place in the Pacific Division.

Dallas concludes a five-game road swing tonight and is 1-2-1 on the trek after Tuesday's 4-2 loss in Anaheim. Niklas Hagman and Loui Eriksson scored for the Stars, who fell to 2-6-1 in their last nine games overall.

Mike Modano had an assist and the all-time points leader among U.S.-born skaters has six helpers in his last four contests.

Marty Turco turned aside 32 shots in the losing effort and is 2-3-1 in his last seven starts. He has allowed three or more goals in four of those games, but is 2-2-1 with a 2.58 goals-against average in five games this year versus the Sharks.

Dallas is 12-11-3 on the road this year and begin a four-game homestand on Saturday versus Columbus.

The Sharks begin a four-game residency tonight after losing back-to-back road games. San Jose lost an overtime test in Anaheim last Sunday before losing 5-3 in Phoenix on Tuesday.

That loss halted San Jose's string of 14 straight road tests without a regulation loss. The Sharks went 12-0-2 in that span. Jonathan Cheechoo and Curtis Brown scored against the Coyotes, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 23 shots in the loss.

Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist to give him one goals and eight helpers in his last four games. Thornton is second in the NHL with 41 assists and has seven goals and 22 assists in 29 career tests versus Dallas.

That includes six helpers against the Stars this year.

The Sharks have won three in a row as the host and are 9-9-4 in San Jose this year. The club will also host Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis on this current stand.

San Jose is 3-2-0 versus Dallas this year, with all three wins coming on the road. The Stars have won five straight tests in San Jose.