Avalanche at Stars, Game 46 Preview

Why you hef be so mean, Dallas? The Stars are coming off a 5-4 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings. During that game, they took a number of penalties. 23 minutes worth, to be exact: four roughing, two tripping, two slashing, one hooking and one fighting. The Kings weren't all that nice either, though. They had 41 minutes, 23 of which were all Mike Richards. Oh my.

The Avalanche have not been on the best behavior either. They seemed to be getting called a lot on various infractions while their counterparts are complete angels. THE NHL HATES THE AVALANCHE!!. Oh sorry. I was channeling a Canucks fan for a minute. Seriously, though, the Avs do stupid stuff when they get all discombobulated and running around and everything. My advice to them for this game? STAY OUT OF THE BOX, BOYS.

Okay, back to Dallas. They've been doing okay lately. Nothing special. They've won five and lost five in their last ten. They do, however, sit one point in front of Colorado in the standings. A win here by either team could put them in a lucrative 7th spot. Of course, they'd need help from LA and Minny. LOSERS. Well, let's hope so anyway. (Shush, AJ. Talking about standings gives me a higher word count. Besides, the Stars' coach looks at them too!)

Apparently Jamie Benn has been doing pretty okay recently. Named to the All Star team, first star on NHL.com, six goals and 12 assists in 13 games. Whatever. HAVE YOU SEEN PAUL STASTNY LATELY?? Yeah, me neither. We need some points on the board from those top six guys or this ain't gonna be pretty.

The game is on way early because there's some sort of playoff action going on, and some Denver fellow is involved somehow. Hopefully, this afternoon game will start on time because Tebow Howard knows, it didn't on Tuesday.

GO BRONCOS AVS!!

Just an FYI from the Post:

Veteran goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere will get his second consecutive start in Saturday’s game against the Stars. Jiggy was really good in Thursday’s 3-2 overtime loss at Nashville, in a game Avs coach Joe Sacco originally pegged Semyon Varlamov to start. Varly had a slight knee bruise but practiced again today in Big D and will serve as backup.

I was told there will be no changes to the D-corps, so Matt Hunwick will again be the healthy scratch. Forwards David Jones and Kevin Porter, who were healthy scratches against the Preds, are expected to participate in pregame warmup, and a decision about the lines will be made then.