Tonight at 10:00 p.m. ET, the Dallas Stars (40-31-11, 91 points regular-season) and Anaheim Ducks (54-20-8, 116 points) clash in Game 1 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff series in Round 1 action live from the Honda Center in Anaheim. The game can be live sreamed for free here. Dallas fans can hear all of the action on SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket while Anaheim fans can do the same on 830 KLAA.
Anaheim comes in as the best team in the Western Conference and is looking to erase an early exit in the 2013 postseason while Dallas is ending a six year drought, making the playoffs for the first time in six years. The Stars took two out of three from the Ducks in the regular-season this year.
The Ducks have some questions in net, and Jonas Hiller isn't sure if he'll be the sure-fire starter after recent struggles.
"You're trying to put it out of your head as much as you can to stay positive," Hiller said Monday via NHL.com. "It's not easy because I want to be in there and I want to play ... if I get my chance, I'll have to do better than the last couple of games."
Hiller went 29-13-7 in the regular-season with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage for the Ducks. Dallas will likely turn to Kari Lehtonen, who was 33-20-10 with a 2.41 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
The Stars had a tough road to get to the playoffs and while they're running into a possible buzz saw, they don't plan on going home early.
"We've had a tough road to get here, and there hasn't been a lot of breathing room," coach Lindy Ruff said per NHL.com. "The playoffs are about getting the job done in a short period of time. So I think some of our young guys have used this stretch as a hardening process to get ready for the playoffs."
Dallas has been led by the dynamic duo of Tyler Seguin, who led the team in goals (37), assists (47) and points (84), and Jamie Benn, who notched a career-high 79 points off of 34 tallies and 45 helpers.
Anaheim has a powerful tag team of its own in forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Getzlaf was second in the NHL with 87 points and fifth with 56 assists while adding 31 goals and Perry ranked second in the league with 43 goals, fifth in the league with 82 points and also had 39 helpers.
The Stars and Ducks open up their best-of-seven Round 1 Stanley Cup Playoff series when they take the ice at the Honda Center tonight in Anaheim.
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