Music: {allcanada} STARS (20-5-1) at OILERS (9-15-2)

Friday, December 4, 2015

{allcanada} STARS (20-5-1) at OILERS (9-15-2)

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Friday, December 4, 2015

9:00 PM ET

STARS (20-5-1) at OILERS (9-15-2)

TV: FS-SW+, SNW

Season series: The Dallas Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 on Oct. 13 at American Airlines Center. Jason Spezza had a hat trick, and Dallas outshot Edmonton 52-28. Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson made 48 saves.

Stars team scope: Dallas, which is tied with the Montreal Canadiens for the NHL lead in goals (91), appears to have found another offensive option with Valeri Nichushkin moved up to play with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Nichushkin had a goal and an assist in his first game on the top line, a 4-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Patrick Sharp, who was dropped from the top line, scored the game-winning goal on a pretty solo rush of his own. Goalie Kari Lehtonen said the Stars' League-leading offense allows them to be better on defense. "We have so many great forwards, one of them is going to have a great night every night, so they can now think more about defense," he said. Antti Niemi is expected to start after Lehtonen returned from a neck injury to play against the Canucks. Ruff could also re-insert defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka in the second half of back-to-back games for either Jamie Oleksiak or Patrik Nemeth.

Oilers team scope: Edmonton is coming off a 3-2 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday, its second victory in three games. "We've got to find a way to put another good effort in and win another hockey game," forward Jordan Eberle told the Oilers website after practice Thursday. "It can't just be a one-in-every-three-game thing. We have to find a way to consistently play well and play together." Edmonton likely will be without forward Benoit Pouliot for a second straight game because of a lower-body injury that kept him out of practice. Forward Rob Klinkhammer, out since Oct. 27, skated Thursday but won't play, and forwards Nail Yakupov (ankle) and Connor McDavid (collarbone) remain out. Nilsson is expected to start for the 12th time in the past 15 games.