The Dallas Stars are just three points behind the Vancouver Canucks in the overall standings, but the two teams have reached that number very differently.
The Canucks are working on matching their longest winning streak since last season, while the Stars will be looking to rebound from the last time the two played when the teams face off in Canada on Friday night.
The Canucks are looking for their seventh win in a row after starting off slow and have looked like one of the best teams in the NHL. Vancouver was expecting to trade goaltender Roberto Luongo to allow Cory Schneider to take over the number one spot, but the two have played fantastic this season, combining for eight wins, while Luongo is 4-0-2 with an NHL-leading 1.45 goals-against average and Schneider is 4-2-0 with a 2.36 GAA.
"Arguably the most consistent part of our team has been goaltending -- no matter who is in net between the two of them," defenseman Kevin Bieksa told the league's official website. "They both give us a great chance to win every game."
The two have alternated some games, with Schneider making 33 saves in a 5-1 win against Calgary on Saturday, while Luongo had 25 saves to earn his fourth-straight win on Tuesday against Minnesota. The team is scoring in bunches and is looking for their first seven game winning streak since Mach of last year.
"They're making a lot of key saves for us when we're down or in tight games," said forward Jannik Hansen, who scored for the third time in four games Tuesday. "It seems everybody is stepping up left and right and obviously we know we are getting tremendous goaltending every night and it's winning us a lot of games right now. Points we are getting now are points we don't have to fight for towards the end of the regular season."
The Canucks have had plenty of success against the Stars recently, going 11-2-1 while outscoring the team 51-29. Schneider has been particularly good, posting a 1.26 GAA in winning four consecutive starts. Overall, Vancouver has won six of the past seven games against Dallas at home.
The Stars were on a solid four game winning streak after starting the season slow, but allowed seven goals in a 7-4 loss to Calgary on Wednesday. The team had issues on defense, allowing four goals in the first 20 minutes of play.
"I don't know if we weren't ready as much as we weren't ready to compete," coach Glen Gulutzan said. "We were soft in the beginning, soft with our sticks, soft with our play. We weren't ready."
Brenden Morrow had two goals that were assisted on by Jariomir Jagr, but the team couldn't muster up much more and goalie Richard Bachman only had 16 saves.
"We were always one or two steps behind," Jagr said. "Next time we have to play a little bit better."
The Canucks will likely face Kari Lehtonen on Friday night, and while he has been excellent in the past month, wining all five starts with a 1.77 GAA, he does not fare all that well against Vancouver, going 2-7-0 versus the Canucks with a 3.69 GAA.
The Canucks will be a bit shorthanded as well since center Manny Malhotra will miss the rest of the season while dealing with a serious eye injury. He had no points in nine games this season and is in the final year of a three year deal.
Dallas is ranked 23rd in the league in scoring and is in the middle of the pack in goals against, ranking 13th with 2.6 per game. The team has been mediocre on special teams, ranking 14th and 13th in power play and penalty kill percentage respectfully.
Vancouver is ranked 11th in scoring, but has been stellar between the pipes, ranking third in the NHL with 1.9 goals allowed per game. The team is also ranked 19th and 22nd in power play and penalty kill percentage respectfully.
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