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Stars look to rebound from a pair of losses

Jan 3, 2008 - 1:45 PM Dallas (23-14-4) at Minnesota (22-15-2) 8:00 pm EST

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (Ticker) - One of the hottest teams in the NHL in the month of December, the Dallas Stars hit a small skid as the calendar turned.

The Stars will look to snap a two-game slide when they visit the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

After totaling 37 goals over an 8-1-0 stretch from December 10 - December 29, Dallas has managed just one tally over its past two contests. Mike Modano, Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro and Antti Miettinen, who totaled 49 points during the surge, have each been held scoreless.

The Stars lost 4-1 to the red-hot Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday as goaltender Marty Turco allowed four goals on 26 shots to the NHL's most prolific offense. Loui Eriksson had the lone tally for Dallas, scoring with 6:01 remaining in the game to help avoid a second consecutive shutout.

The Wild may be just the team to get the Stars' offense back on track. Dallas earned an 8-3 win over Minnesota on December 26 with Morrow tallying twice in the blowout.

Backup goaltender Josh Harding allowed all eight goals in the loss and has not played since, yielding to starter Niklas Backstrom.

The Wild responded to that embarrassing loss with two straight wins before falling to the San Jose Sharks, 3-2, on Monday. They have won six of their last nine games.