Stars (25-29-10 60P) at Panthers (29-23-11 69P)
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- WHEN: 7 p.m. ET – LBC GameThread right here at 6:30ish
- WHERE: BB&T Center – Sunrise, FL
- TICKETS: via the Club
- ON THE TUBE: FOX Sports Florida, FOX Sports Southwest
- ON THE DIAL: 560 WQAM, 640 WMEN
- GOODIES: NHL Centennial Fan Arena ends today! Panther Conservation Night March 10 vs Minnesota!
- SOCIALS: #FlaPanthers, #DallasStars, #DALvsFLA, @LitterBoxCats, LBC FaceBook
- ENEMY INTEL: Defending Big D
- SB NATION: Game Feature Hub
- BACK-TO-BACK? (FLA/DAL): None/None
- FLA IN SEASON SERIES: Game 2 of 2 (1-0)
- ALL-TIME vs DAL (RS): 15W-13L-3T 0OTL 1SOL 90GF 91GA
- ALL-TIME at FLA (RS): 6W-8L-1T 0OTL 1SOL 34GF 47GA
- LAST FIVE vs DAL (RS): 2-2-1 14GF 13GA
- LAST MEETING: FLA 3 at DAL 1 – (Todd’s Recap) – 12/31/2016
- NEXT MEETING (RS): 2017-18 season
- PROJECTED STARTERS: Reimer (12-8-5 .922/2.43 0SO) vs Lehtonen (14-19-6 .900/2.94 1SO)
- TALE OF THE TAPE via Left Wing Lock
- JAGR WATCH: All-time vs DAL (RS): 34GP 16G-19A 35P +Even 2GWG
- PLAYER STATS: Florida / Dallas/
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Scouting Report:
The Stars have struggled with their goaltending this season. Antti Niemi, who played Thursday in a 5-4 loss to the New York Islanders, is 11-10-4 with a fat 3.22 GAA and just a .897 save percentage.
Niemi gave up a 3-1 lead to the Islanders on Thursday, allowing four straight goals in roughly 15 minutes.
“If we defend better, we should (at least) be going into overtime,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff told the media. “There’s no excuse for how we defended a couple of those goals.”
The Stars also got bad luck. One shot bounced off the end board and went in off of Niemi’s skate.
“You watch that and think, ‘What’s going to happen next?'” Ruff said. (More via AP)
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Last action from the Cats: 2-1 (SO) loss in Philadelphia Thursday. Past five: 1-3-1 (streak: 1L)
Last action from the Stars: 5-4 (REG) home loss to the Isles Thursday. Past five: 3-2-0 (streak: 1L)
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Saturday in the Atlantic Division (Standings/Panthers Playoff Chances):
- New Jersey (25-26-12 62P) at BOSTON (33-25-6P 72P), 7:00
- MONTREAL (36-21-8 80P) at NY Rangers (41-21-2 84P), 7:00 NHLN
- TAMPA BAY (29-26-8 66P) at BUFFALO (27-26-11 65P), 7:00
- Columbus (40-16-6 86P) at OTTAWA (34-22-6 74P), 7:00
- DETROIT (25-26-11 61P) at Edmonton (34-22-8 74P), 10:00
- Idle: TOR (70P)/
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