FRISCO/DALLAS — Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn will be back in the lineup after missing one game due to an eye injury.
“No problems,” Benn, who doesn’t wear a visor, said. “I’m just looking forward to tonight and see if we can get a better effort here tonight.”
While Benn will return, Jason Spezza is doubtful after dealing with backs spasms. Spezza left practice early on Sunday and didn’t partake in the team’s morning skate in Frisco.
Dell returns
San Jose Sharks goalie Aaron Dell will make his first start in the DFW area since he was a member of the Allen Americans.
“It’s pretty cool, I know the area a little bit,” Dell said. “I haven’t really been back since I’ve been there, so this is nice.”
Dell was an undrafted free agent out of North Dakota when he signed with Allen in the Central Hockey League. He was a key part of the Americans’ 2013 CHL title, the first of a string of four championships for Allen that has spanned over two leagues.
“It was a good start for me, it was kind of during the (2012-13 NHL) lockout, so I wasn’t really expecting a whole lot as far as interest,” Dell said. “I kind of started there the same way I kind of started every other place, I was kind of splitting time and I ended up taking over there at the end and got to win a championship in the Central Hockey League.”
Dell eventually earned an NHL contract with San Jose, who affiliated with the Americans, and played 12 games with Allen during the 2014-15 season. He spent all of last season in the AHL before grabbing an NHL back-up role this season.
Sharks projected lineup
Jannik Hansen — Joe Thornton — Joe Pavelski
Patrick Marleau — Logan Couture — Joel Ward
Joonas Donskoi — Tomas Hertl — Mikkel Boedker
Micheal Haley — Chris Tierney — Marcus Sorensen
Paul Martin — Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon — David Schlemko
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched: Timo Meier, Daniel O’Regan, Dylan DeMelo
Injured: Melker Karlsson (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn — Cody Eakin — Ales Hemsky
Remi Elie — Tyler Seguin — Brett Ritchie
Devin Shore — Radek Faksa — Patrick Sharp
Curtis McKenzie — Adam Cracknell — Jiri Hudler
Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Patrik Nemeth — Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Scratched: Jamie Oleksiak
Injured: Mattias Janmark (knee), Antoine Roussel (hand), Jason Spezza (back spasms)
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