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Not sure if you've noticed, but the Central Division is the pretty darn competitive. With Minnesota Wild nipping at the heels of the Colorado Avalanche, this game has to be seen as a must win for Coach Roy. The Dallas Stars are eight points behind and are in need of making up some ground. Needless to say, this game is huge for them. While in years past, games in December didn't have that sense of urgency, the insane parity that is the West make every game big.
Like the Minny games this past weekend, the Avs have won both previous meetings with the Stars. Tonight, the third of five meetings, is the first in a home-and-home set. Dallas has had a mediocre past ten games at 4-3-3, but the team is coming off a huge win against other division foe Nashville Predators. The Avalanche, on the other hand, lost their last game in a shoot out decision, garnering the team their first loser point.
Roy indicated in his press conference that Nick Holden, Ryan Wilson and Brad Malone will again be the scratches. Alex Tanguay is still on IR for an undetermined amount of time.
Game is at 7:00 pm MT and can be seen on FS-SW, and ALT.
View from the other side: Defending Big D