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Dallas Stars (25-20-11) at Columbus Blue Jackets (22-27-9), 7 p.m.

Sports Network | February 4, 2010

(Sports Network) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will begin life after Ken Hitchcock tonight, when they welcome the Dallas Stars for a battle at Nationwide Arena.

Hitchcock was relieved of his head-coaching duties on Wednesday, less than a season after he guided the franchise to its first playoff appearance. Assistant coach Claude Noel has been tagged as the interim head coach.

Named the fourth head coach in franchise history on November 22, 2006, Hitchcock guided the Blue Jackets to a mark of 41-31-10 last season and finished seventh in the Western Conference, granting Columbus its first playoff spot since coming into the league in the 2000-01 season.

However, this season has been a different story as the team sits second to last in the Western Conference with a 22-27-9 record.

Noel will make his debut as an NHL head coach tonight against the Stars, the club that Hitchcock led to a Stanley Cup title in 1999. The 54-year-old Noel led Milwaukee to a Calder Cup in 2004.

"Claude Noel is a good hockey coach with a proven track record in the American Hockey League," said Columbus general manager Scott Howson. "He knows our team and is deserving of this opportunity."

Hitchcock's last game as Blue Jackets' coach came on Tuesday in a 5-1 road loss to the Colorado Avalanche. That setback dropped Columbus to 4-7-0 in its last 11 games.

Ryan O'Reilly had two short-handed goals to lead the Avalanche to the recent win over Columbus. Antoine Vermette also scored short-handed for the Blue Jackets, who lost all four meetings this season to Colorado.

Mathieu Garon was beaten five times on 26 shots in defeat. Defenseman Mike Commodore missed the game with a charley horse in his left leg and is questionable for tonight.

Columbus, which is 12-9-5 as the host this year, is kicking off a six-game homestand tonight. The residency will take the Blue Jackets through the Olympic break and will end March 2, when NHL play resumes following the Winter Games.

Meanwhile, the Stars have won three of their last four games and come into tonight with 61 points, tying them with Anaheim for the 10th seed in the West.

Dallas went 3-1-0 on a recent four-game homestand and posted a victory over Minnesota in the finale of that residency on Tuesday. Stars netminder Marty Turco turned aside 40 shots to backstop the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Wild, who are 0-9-3 in their last 12 trips to Dallas.

Mike Modano and Jamie Benn both registered a goal and an assist for the Stars, who have won six of nine overall. Dallas also received goals from James Neal and Brad Richards.

"The guys played a solid game," said Turco, who improved to 16-14-8 this season. Turco is expected to get the start again tonight.

Dallas will play four of its final five games before the Olympic break on the road. The Stars are just 8-14-6 as the guest this year and have lost 11 of their last 12 road games.

Tonight marks the final scheduled meeting between the Stars and Columbus this year. The Blue Jackets have taken two of three from Dallas this year, but the Stars still have four wins in the last six matchups. The Stars had a four-game road winning streak in this series halted with a 2-0 setback in Columbus on January 10.