San Jose Sharks Go For Five Straight Against Dallas
The San Jose Sharks welcome another familiar foe in to SAP Center tonight as Antti Niemi and the Dallas Stars come to town. The Sharks have been playing much better hockey of late as they seek their fifth straight victory against the Central Division’s second-best club.
Dallas limps into tonight’s contest having lost five of their past six games, including a 4-2 loss in Anaheim last night. San Jose will want to jump all over a weary Stars club and not allow them to settle into this one. Dallas allowed four first-period goals last night which proved the difference in that one, so San Jose better be on their toes because you know the Stars won’t want a repeat of that performance.
These two teams met at the end of October with Niemi scoring a 5-3 victory over his former teammates. The Sharks will want to return the favor and extend the misery of the Stars for another night.
Players to Watch
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Sharks: Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vlasic is quietly putting up one of his best offensive years of his career as he has found the back of the net five times to go along with 15 assists this season. He scored a beauty of a goal last time out against Edmonton, but his main task will be to shut down the dynamic duo of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Stars: Jamie Benn. Speaking of Benn, he continues to be one of the most dominant players across the NHL as he’s a lethal goal scorer, along with being a creative playmaker. Benn leads the Dallas attack with 26 goals and 54 points on the season and carries a two-game goal scoring streak into this one. He will be a handful for the Sharks defense all night long.
Keys to the Game
1. Stay Out of the Box
Dallas sports the league’s best offense at 3.31 goals per game and the third-best power play, converting at a 22.5 percent clip. With San Jose sitting in the bottom half of the league in both goals against and penalty killing, the Sharks don’t want to give the visitors any opportunities to showcase their potent offense.
2. Continue Road Woes for Dallas
After beginning the season as one of the best road teams in all of the NHL, the Stars have really hit the skids dropping eight of their last nine games away from American Airlines Center. On the flip side, San Jose looks to win three straight home games for the first time since January of last season and continue their improved play on home ice.
Stars on road this season - First 14 games: 11-2-1 record, +16 goal diff. Last 9 games: 1-5-3 (0-4-2 in last 6), -13 goal diff.
— Darin Stephens (@SharksStats) January 16, 2016
3. Raise Your Game
Dallas has been one of the best teams in the league this season, rejuvenating themselves after a disappointing 2014-15 season. This will be a big test for the Sharks to see if they’re ready to compete with the best in the Western Conference as the second half begins. San Jose’s recent winning streak has come against some of the lesser teams in the NHL so let’s see what kind of effort they can put forth tonight.
Next: Sharks Find Themselves In Familiar Position
TV/Radio
TV: CSN-California (7:30 p.m. PST)
Radio: 98.5 KFOX