Calgary Flames (14-18-3) at Dallas Stars (21-10-3)

6:30 p.m., American Airlines Center, FAN 960 radio, Sportsnet Calgary

Flames player to watch

C Olli Jokinen - Even with the team floundering offensively, the big Finn is managing to score. Five goals in his past seven games. The Flames are hoping it's contagious.

The Lines

A. Tanguay O. Jokinen J. Iginla

N. Hagman M. Stajan R. Bourque

C. Glencross D. Moss A. Kotalik

T. Kostopoulos B. Morrison T. Jackman

The Pairings

R. Regehr J. Bouwmeester

M. Giordano C. Sarich

A. Pardy A. Babchuk

The Goalies

M. Kiprusoff

H. Karlsson

The Injuries

* D Steve Staios (shoulder), C Daymond Langkow (neck), LW Raitis Ivanans (concussion)

The Notes

On the road, the Flames are 5-11-3 . . . At four games under .500, this is the Flames' low point, record-wise . . . In the goals-for department, the Flames have slipped to 20th. Three straight nights of only one goal will do that. Leading the league, surprisingly enough, is Colorado, with a whopping 3.50 nightly average. The puniest attack belongs to New Jersey, at 1.73. Dallas, meanwhile, slots in at 13th . . . When the Flames were tagged with a too-many-men penalty Tuesday, it marked their sixth bench minor - only Tampa has more. Dallas has none . . . After a shockingly bad - even by their standards - first period in faceoffs, the Flames pivots rebounded in Columbus. In the opening 20 minutes, they'd won only 24 per cent of their draws. Over the final 40 minutes? They won 29 of 45 faceoffs (64.4 per cent) . . . D Mark Giordano's 94 blocked shots stake him second in the league.

Stars player to watch

LW Brenden Morrow - Even with a bubble protecting his battered nozzle, the Stars captain has been leading his team to, surprisingly enough, top spot on the Western Conference.

The Lines

J. Neal B. Richards L. Eriksson

B. Morrow M. Ribeiro J. Benn

S. Ott T. Wandell A. Burish

B. Sutherby T. Petersen K. Barch

The Pairings

N. Grossman S. Robidas

T. Daley J. Woywitka

K. Skrastins M. Fistric

The Goalies

A. Raycroft

K. Lehtonen

The Injuries

None

The Notes

One of the NHL's first-half surprises, the Stars are 12-3-2 on home ice . . . Captain LW Brenden Morrow impressed coach Marc Crawford with his quick turnaround from a broken nose. "Can you imagine going to work and getting hit with a baseball bat and then your boss says, 'When you stop the bleeding, get out there and work the rest of the day,' " said Crawford. "That's exactly what he's been doing. He had to have an operation, and that's no fun." . . . Defensively, Dallas sits 10th. Calgary, meanwhile, is 21st . . . The Stars rule in close contests - 14-2-3 in one-goal games, 8-3 in overtime and shootouts. "I've never been on a team that worked this hard," LW Steve Ott told Dallas reporters. "Our D, our special teams, we're doing the job." The Flames, meanwhile, are 5-7-3 in one-goal games . . . C Brad Richards is producing at a steady clip - points in 16 of the past 20 games. He's fifth in league scoring, while linemate RW Loui Eriksson is 10th. Eriksson is also plus-14, 12th best on the circuit . . . LW Steve Ott is second in the league with 20 minors. Only St. Louis RW David Backes has accumulated more. Ott, though, wins 55.2 per cent of his faceoffs, placing him 17th in the NHL . . . With 37 giveaways, Richards is eighth . . . D Nicklas Grossman, with 102 hits, is eighth in that department. Tied for 17th are Ott and LW Brenden Morrow, with 93 knocks apiece. Not surprisingly, Dallas is second in that category, behind only the New York Rangers. Calgary D Robyn Regehr checks in at No. 22, with his 88 checks. The Flames are 15th.

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Scott Cruickshank, Calgary Herald