Sharks vs. Stars preview: Seven-game road trip begins in Dallas
Alex Stalock gets the start as the Sharks play the first half of a back-to-back against the Stars.
A two-game homestand is the best the Sharks are going to get with their early-season schedule and after splitting a pair of games at the Tank they'll return to the road for a seven-game trek that begins in Dallas and takes them out east. They'll face a reeling Stars team tonight that has lost six games in a row after a 4-1-2 start. Despite the recent losses, and despite injuries to young top-nine forwards Valeri Nichushkin and Cody Eakin, Dallas is stocked with offensive talent and always seem to be a tough out for the Sharks.
Tale Of The Tape
 | @ |  |
| 7-5-2, 16 points | Record | 4-5-4, 12 points |
| 5th in Pacific | Rank | 7th in Central |
| 51.4% | Score-Adj. Fenwick | 50.7% |
| 100.7 | PDO | 100.5 |
| 25.0 | PP% | 17.0 |
| 80.5 | PK% | 77.1 |
5PM PST | American Airlines Center | Dallas, Texas
TV: CSNCA-HD | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Defending Big D
Projected Sharks Lineup
Matt Nieto - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau - Logan Couture - Tommy Wingels
Tomas Hertl - James Sheppard - Tyler Kennedy
Tye McGinn - Andrew Desjardins - Adam Burish
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Mirco Mueller - Brent Burns
Matt Irwin - Jason Demers
Alex Stalock
Antti Niemi
Projected Stars Lineup
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Patrick Eaves
Curtis McKenzie - Jason Spezza - Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel - Vernon Fiddler - Ryan Garbutt
Erik Cole - Shawn Horcoff - Colton Sceviour
Brenden Dillon - Trevor Daley
Alex Goligoski - Jordie Benn
Jamie Oleksiak - Sergei Gonchar
Anders Lindback
Kari Lehtonen
Last Meeting
Marty Havlat scored in regulation and set up Tommy Wingels for the winner in overtime as the Sharks defeated the Stars at the Tank in their penultimate game before last season's Olympic break.
Storylines
- Matt Irwin draws in to the lineup tonight for the first time since October 25th, likely replacing Scott Hannan on a third pairing that has struggled so far this season.
- Also making his first appearance since October 25th will be Alex Stalock, ending Antti Niemi's streak of five consecutive starts.
- Dallas is starting their backup as well with Anders Lindback getting his third start of the season. Lindback has frankly been rather terrible in recent years, with a .896 SV% dating back to the lockout.
- Despite acquiring Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky in the offseason and boasting one of the deepest, most exciting forward groups in the league, the Stars have dropped six games in a row and currently sit in the Central Division basement./