Goaltender Antti Niemi will start for the Dallas Stars after Kari Lehtonen started the past three games. Niemi has been pulled in his past two starts. "A lot of times for goaltenders it's making that big save and feeling good about yourself," coach Lindy Ruff said. "Usually that's it. Get him some quality practice time, some quality practice and reps and focus on the fact for a good stretch of time he played really well at home for us." Forward Jiri Hudler will be a healthy scratch for the third straight game, with the Stars having gone with a bigger lineup, including a fourth line of Curtis McKenzie, Adam Cracknell and Brett Ritchie. "We play a simple game and we play well together," Cracknell said. "[McKenzie and Ritchie] are big and you have to think about them on the ice. I think that's made my job so much easier." The Stars are trying to end a three-game losing streak, but have a two-game point streak after losing to the Washington Capitals in overtime Saturday and the Minnesota Wild in a shootout Tuesday. "We've been trying to get on a run, we might have played two of our best games against Washington and [Minnesota]," Ruff said. "But we've missed too many opportunities on the execution side."
