It appears that Jussi Rynnas will get the start in goal tonight when the Dallas Stars take on the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena.

Rynnas, who was recalled from the AHL on Wednesday, was the first goaltender off the ice at this morning’s skate in Detroit, an indication that he will be the man in net.

“I’m excited every game, whether it is here or the AHL,” Rynnas said. “I really love to play and I will do everything I can to give these guys a chance to win today.”

This won’t be Rynnas’ first NHL game, but it will be his first in almost two years. He last played in the NHL on Feb. 19, 2013 when he logged 10:20 for the Toronto Maple Leafs and stopped all six shots he faced in a relief appearance. Overall, Rynnas has played in three NHL games, posting a 0-1-0 record, 3.84 goals against average and .848 save percentage.

He’s been solid in the AHL this season, posting a 5-1-4 mark with 2.58 goals against average and .913 save percentage for the Texas Stars.

“The trust we have with the guys down there is every guy we bring up, including the goalie, is that they are playing well,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. “I am more concerned with getting the five guys playing in front of him playing the game we need to play. That’s going to start with playing a good 20-minute road period, and that usually starts with playing good defensively. We can’t start a game the way we did in Toronto.”

The Stars gave up a goal in the first 27 seconds in that 5-3 loss to the Maple Leafs. The Stars have surrendered five goals in three straight games.

Lindback clears waivers, assigned to AHL

Goaltender Anders Lindback cleared waivers Thursday and was assigned to the Texas Stars of the AHL. Lindback is 0-5-0 with a 4.63 goals against average and .861 save percentage with Dallas this season. The Stars are hoping Lindback can find his game with some playing time in the AHL.

Red Wings watch

Jimmy Howard will get the start in goal tonight for the Red Wings. Howard has played in 20 of Detroit’s 25 games this season, posting an 11-5-4 record, 2.23 goals against average and .916 save percentage.

Forward Justin Abdelkader remains out with a shoulder injury.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock had these thoughts on playing the Dallas Stars.

“Great speed through the middle, good skill level,” Babcock said. “I have a lot of respect for Jamie Benn. [Tyler] Seguin is really developing into a player in the league. Obviously, [Jason] Spezza is good at what he does.

“So to me they've got lots of skill on their team, and so if we want to play run-and-gun I don't like that; I'd rather us just play well at what we do and not spend too much time worrying about them.”

Thursday’s game

Who: Dallas Stars at Detroit Red Wings

Where: Joe Louis Arena

When: 6:30 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Radio: The Ticket 1310 AM/96.7 FM

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Ales Hemsky

Erik Cole – Jason Spezza – Colton Sceviour

Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt

Shawn Horcoff – Vernon Fiddler – Travis Moen

Alex Goligoski – Trevor Daley

Jordie Benn – Jason Demers

Jyrki Jokipakka – John Klingberg

Jussi Rynnas

Kari Lehtonen

Scratched: Curtis McKenzie, Jamie Oleksiak

Injured: Patrick Eaves (ankle), Valeri Nichushkin (hip), Patrik Nemeth (arm)

Red Wings projected lineup

Gustav Nyquist - Henrik Zetterberg - Johan Franzen

Tomas Tatar - Pavel Datsyuk - Darren Helm

Tomas Jurco - Riley Sheahan - Stephen Weiss

Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Joakim Andersson

Jonathan Ericsson - Niklas Kronwall

Danny DeKeyser - Kyle Quincey

Brendan Smith - Jakub Kindl

Jimmy Howard

Petr Mrazek

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.