StarGazing - February 24th vs. Minnesota Wild

FRIDAY’S GAME:
Dallas Stars (31-26-4, 66 points – T-3rd, Pacific Division) – Tonight: 3-1 W @ Chicago
vs. Minnesota Wild (27-24-9, 63 points – 4th, Northwest Division) – Tonight: 3-2 SO W @ Florida
7:30 p.m. CT at American Airlines Center

BROADCAST INFO:
FOX Sports Southwest and Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket

ALL-TIME SERIES RESULTS vs. MINNESOTA WILD:
Overall: 27-12-3
Home: 17-2-2
Road: 10-10-1
This Season: 1-1-0
01/21/12 – @ Minnesota, 2-5 L
02/04/12 – vs. Minnesota, 2-1 W (SO)
02/24/12 – vs. Minnesota
03/13/12 – @ Minnesota

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH:

1. The Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild meet for their third of four contests on Friday night. The Stars have a 1-1-0 record against them in the season series and have won seven of the last nine games against them overall.
 
2. The Dallas Stars have not lost a home game to the Minnesota Wild since March 21, 2003. Since that contest, the Stars have won 15 consecutive games (15-0-0) They have not lost in regulation at home since March 8, 2002 (span of 9 years, 10 months).
 
3. Friday’s game between the Stars and Wild features two of the top-three winningest Finnish-born goaltenders in NHL history. Nicklas Backstrom (MIN) and Kari Lehtonen (DAL) are tied for second with 156 victories while Mikka Kiprusoff (CGY) is first with 303 victories.
 
4. The Stars will play their 12th back-to-back set on Thursday (Chicago) and Friday(Minnesota). They have an overall record of 5-13-4 with a 5-4-2 record on the first day and a 0-9-2 record on the second day of a back-to-back.
 
5. The Stars are now just two victories shy of earning the franchise’s 1,500thall-time victory.  They will be the tenth team in NHL history to reach 1,500 as well as the only club to do so in two separate NHL cities.




WHO TO WATCH:

LOUI ERIKSSON has earned a point in four of his last five games against the Wild (0-6-6). He is one of 14 active NHL players who has 50 points for four consecutive seasons.
 
MIKE RIBEIRO has earned a point in five of his last seven games against the Wild (2-4-6).
 
KARI LEHTONEN earned a shutout in his previous game vs. the Canadiens becoming the only goaltender in Stars history to earn a shutout in Montreal.