(SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Stars are hoping their recent success against the Ottawa Senators can get them back on track when the clubs meet Tuesday in Big D. The Stars enter the opener of a three-game homestand locked in an 0-2-2 slide and the four-game skid comes directly on the heels of a 9-2-0 run from Dec. 6- Jan. 3. The club sits six points out of a playoff spot in the highly competitive Western Conference. However, Dallas has won five straight and seven of nine over the Senators. Ottawa has dropped three in a row and five of the past six meetings at American Airlines Center. Tonight marks the first time Stars forward Jason Spezza will face his former team. Spezza compiled 687 points (251 goals, 436 assists) over 11 seasons and 686 games with Ottawa, but he requested a trade from the Sens last spring and was eventually dealt to Dallas on July 1. Spezza was traded to the Stars along with forward prospect Ludwig Karlsson, while Ottawa received forwards Alex Chiasson, Alex Guptill, Nicolas Paul and a second-round pick in 2015. The 31-year-old Spezza is third on Dallas this season with 29 points off seven goals and 22 helpers. He signed a four-year extension with the Stars in November, keeping him under contract in Dallas through the 2018-19 season. It was nice to catch up. I saw some of the guys yesterday and will catch up with a few more guys today, Spezza said after Mondays practice. I think it is different when it is on your terms and in your rink. It will be different when I go back to Ottawa. Spezza and the Stars are scheduled to visit the Senators on Jan. 29. Dallas may ask for more than usual from Spezza as it may have to face Ottawa tonight without the help of captain Jamie Benn and fellow forwards Vernon Fiddler and Tyler Seguin, who are all questionable for Tuesday. Benn is dealing with an undisclosed injury, while Fiddler left Saturdays loss against Colorado with a lower-body issue. Seguin, meanwhile, was sent home from Mondays practice with an illness. Seguin is leading Dallas in goals (26) and points (48), while Benn is second in team scoring with 36 points on 12 goals and 24 assists. The Stars fell 4-3 in Denver on Saturday, as Matt Duchene picked up the deciding goal for the Avalanche early in the third period. Brett Ritchie, Colton Sceviour and Ales Hemsky scored for the Stars, while Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 shots in defeat. Lehtonen is expected to start tonight and owns an 8-5-0 record and 2.75 goals against average in 15 career games against the Senators. Ottawa enters tonight eight points out of a playoff spot in the East, but it was able to halt a three-game slide with Saturdays blowout win in Arizona. Craig Anderson made 31 saves, and the Sens scored five unanswered goals to top the Coyotes, 5-1. After Mikkel Boedker put the Coyotes on top early in the game, Milan Michalek and Clarke MacArthur scored first-period goals to give the Senators the lead for good. Ottawa also got goals from Mike Hoffman, Cody Ceci and David Legwand to improve to 1-1-1 on a four-game road trip that ends tonight. The Sens are just 9-11-4 as the guest this season. We finally got rewarded for our effort, Senators head coach Dave Cameron said. It feels good. Robin Lehner will get the start in net for Ottawa. He is 0-1-1 with a 2.88 GAA in his career against Dallas. After tonight, the Senators will close January by playing five of six on home ice. Ottawa will begin a brief two-game homestand Thursday against Montreal. Kyle Lauletta Giants Jersey . INJURIES - Cardinals 1B Matt Adams has been put on the DL with calf tightness, resulting in some lineup shifting, with Allen Craig moving from right field to first base, so that the Cardinals could bring up top prospect Oscar Taveras, who was the No. Nate Solder Giants Jersey . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. http://www.nygiantsfanaticshop.com/Black...ey.html?cat=947. The former central defender calmly nodded it down and quietly went about celebrating a win with his staff. For a man who has had a lot on his shoulders this season, it was an appropriate moment. B.J. Hill Jersey . Alfredo Simon lowered his ERA to 0.86, and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 Friday for their 16th win in their last 17 games at the Friendly Confines. Kareem Martin Giants Jersey .com) - Maria Sharapova rallied for a three- set win over Ana Ivanovic on Saturday to capture the season-opening Brisbane International tennis tournament.The Blue Jays made a roster move Tuesday that didnt garner all that much attention. They picked up 29-year-old right hander Bo Schultz on waivers from Arizona. Hes a swingman whos done some starting and a little relieving in what basically amounts to a journeyman career. Schultz can reportedly crank it up to the mid-90s, but what really caught my attention was the word used to describe his style, “sidewinder.” That means he drops down and throws sidearm. There arent too many pitchers who throw that style these days, though Ive been told it actually puts less stress on the arm. If you take that delivery even further, you get the submariner. Darren ODay and Brad Ziegler are two pitchers today who come at you from the side, but the last real submariner who sticks out in my mind of is Chad Bradford. I was fortunate enough to cover and get to know arguably the two greatest submarine pitchers ever. The last time the Kansas City Royals won the World Series in 1985, their closer was Dan Quisenberry. He was 62 and weighed just 170 pounds. His knuckles almost scraped the mound when he threw, he got down that low. The “Quiz was a real off-the-wall, truly funny man with a little bit of an edge. He racked up 244 saves over his career, good for 34th place all-time. His peak years stretched from 1980, when KC made it to the World Series for the first time (and lost to the Phillies), to 1985, when they won their only Fall Classic. He converted 212 of his 244 save opportunities over that six-season span. Sadly he passed away in 1998 at age 45 after a courageous battle with brain cancer, the same disease that took the Royals’ World Series Manager Dick Howser. The last time the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series their closer was another submariner, Kent Tekulve, known to his friends as Teke. Tekulve didnt break into the Majors until he was 27 but he stuck around until he was 42, chalking up 184 saves, good for a tie for 57th place on the all-time list. Like Quiz, Tekulve was tall and thin and with his glasses on could have passed for a teacher of some ilk. He had a more subtle sense of humour than Quinsenberry, but he never reflected the pressure of being a Major League closer. He reminded me a lot both in his voice and his facial appearance of the great actor Donald Sutherland. Tekulve had two incredible seasons. In 1978, he appeared in 91 games and saved 31. In those days managers were more apt to have pitchers work in non- save situations to finish off games and work more than just the one inning as well.dddddddddddd Tekulve went on to do broadcasting work with the Pirates, which was a perfect fit considering his easy going personality and love of the game. I was surprised to read a few weeks ago that he had undergone a heart transplant at age 67. He is reportedly doing well. The Blue Jays had a sidewinder of their own in Mark Eichhorn, another truly funny man, Eichhorn broke in with the Jays in 1982 as a starter and went (0-3) in seven starts. He hurt his shoulder and had to re-invent himself since he couldnt throw over the top anymore. He re-emerged with the Blue Jays in 1986 and put together one of the best seasons any reliever has ever had. Eich went 14-6 with a 1.72 ERA and 10 saves. Not only that, he chalked up a remarkable 157 innings out of the pen. The Jays have had starters the past few seasons who didnt put up that many innings. He followed that up in 1987 by going 10-6 with four saves in 89 appearances. In ‘87 he worked 217.2 innings. The Blue Jays sold him to Atlanta in 1989, but reacquired Eichhorn in 1992 from the Angels for outfielder Rob Ducey and catcher Greg Myers. That deal also solidified Pat Borders position as the Jays No. 1 catcher. Eichhorn stuck around for both World Series victories before ending his career with the Angels in 1996. Who knows, maybe the Blue Jays see a little of Eichhorn in Bo Schultz. Time will tell. --- I didnt do so well in my division series predictions, going 1-3. But Im going to stick with the one team I hit on – Baltimore – to beat Kansas City in the ALCS, which starts Friday. The Orioles are trying to win their first World Series since 1983, the Royals their first since 1985. The National League series features the two model franchises since the turn of the Century. The Giants have been to the postseason six times since 2000 and have won two World Series in the past four years. The Cardinals have been to the playoffs 11 times in 15 years. Theyve been to four World Series, winning two and losing two, including last years to Boston. I have a hunch it could be their turn in 2014. --- After taking a year off from the game, one of the great Canadian born pitchers, Ryan Dempster, has decided to retire. He was one of those rare pitchers who had success starting and closing. He was a two-time All-Star, pitched more than 200 innings seven times in 16 seasons, and saved more than 20 games three times. And he finally got his first World Series ring at 36 a year ago with Boston. I wish him well. 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