(Sportsbooks) - The Stars haven't had much momentum this season. Dallas will try again for back-to-back victories for the first time this year as it hosts the San Jose Sharks tonight at American Airlines Center.
At 7-10-7, the Stars have had a pair of three-game losing streaks already this season, but have failed to string together consecutive wins even once. That means Dallas hasn't enjoyed a winning streak since four straight triumphs from February 22-28 of last season.
Dallas halted one of its three-game skids on Wednesday with a 4-3 win in Minnesota. James Neal collected the first two-goal game of his career, while Loui Eriksson posted the game-winning goal in the third period to give him two goals and three assists over his last three games.
Brad Richards added a goal and an assist for the Stars, while Marty Turco made 25 stops for his sixth win of the season.
Mike Modano, the all-time leading scorer among American skaters, finished without a point, leaving him two shy of 1,300 for his career.
Dallas won despite not having the services of Steve Ott, Brenden Morrow and Jere Lehtinen. Morrow is lost for the season due to a right knee injury, while Ott (broken right hand) and Lehtinen (upper body) are out indefinitely.
The Stars have lost their last three at home (0-2-1) and are 2-3-3 as the host club this season.
The Sharks enter this game coming off a 3-2 overtime win on Wednesday. The club was sparked by the return of Evgeni Nabokov, who had missed the last seven games due to a lower-body injury and made 24 saves to get the win.
Backup netminder Brian Boucher had filled in admirably for Nabokov while he was out, posting a 5-1-1 record in the seven games Nabokov missed.
Joe Thornton scored the game-winner 45 seconds into overtime, as the Sharks extended their winning streak over Chicago to 13 straight games. Rob Blake and Patrick Marleau each scored in regulation to help San Jose win its fifth straight game overall and improve to 12-0-1 at home.
Devin Setoguchi had an assist, as he is one of three San Jose skaters currently riding a six-game point streak. Setoguchi has five goals and six assists over his run, Thornton has posted four goals and seven assists over his streak, while Marleau has four goals and five helpers over his.
San Jose is 6-3-0 on the road this season.
These clubs split four meetings last year, but the Stars had the last laugh when they eliminated the Sharks in six games in last year's Western Conference semifinals. San Jose drew first blood in the series this year, winning a 2-1 home decision over Dallas on November 8.
