The Dallas Stars saw the return of three players to the ice the last time they took the ice. However, they could be without their leading goal scorer tonight. Dallas forward James Neal is questionable because of a groin issues for this evening's game versus the Vancouver Canucks at the American Airlines Center. The Vancouver Canucks head to Dallas after beginning a five-game road trip with a 5-2 victory in Minnesota last night. Alex Burrows had a goal and an assist, while Darcy Hordichuk, Henrik Sedin, Mason Raymond and Matt Pettinger also scored. Andrew Raycroft, who continues to play in the place of injured netminder Roberto Luongo, made 28 saves in helping Vancouver to its third straight win and fourth in five games. The Canucks also improved to 3-5-0 on the road. "It's good to start a road trip. You look at the lineup, we have some big names out, but it seems like we're pulling together," noted Hordichuk. "We're getting great goaltending, guys are stepping up so it's no surprise we're having the success we're having." Luongo hasn't played since October 27 due to a fractured rib and hopes to return at some point during this road trip. Neal scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary. He has six goals and four assists over a career-best seven-game point streak, but was unable to practice on Thursday due to his injury. It marks just the latest setback to the Stars, who saw the return of goaltender Marty Turco and forwards Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen on Wednesday. Turco, who made 20 saves, had missed the last two games due to flu-like symptoms, while Modano (ribs) and Lehtinen (groin) had missed the last 13 and nine games, respectively. Dallas held a 2-1 edge, but allowed the game-tying goal with just 49 ticks left in the third period before taking a delay of game penalty in overtime that set up the winning goal for the Flames. Loui Eriksson also scored for the Stars, who lost their third game in a row (0-1-2). Brad Richards added an assist to run his point streak to six games (2 goals, 7 assists). "We can take the positives from [Wednesday] night -- we played well, we just weren't lucky and didn't get the win," Mike Ribeiro told his team's Web site on Thursday. "We just need to keep focusing on what we have to do and not the other team. We have a good team, good goaltending. We just need to try to play the same way we did [Wednesday]." The Stars dropped a 4-3 shootout test in Vancouver on October 11, their third loss in a row to the Canucks. Though Dallas has lost two of its last three at home to Vancouver, it has still won eight of the last 10 meetings played in Big D in the series.
