With the flame of their playoff hopes flickering in the wind, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (37-30-10) play host to Ken Hitchcock's St. Louis Blues (47-23-7) on Friday night. Game time at the American Airlines center is 7:30 p.m. CDT. The game will be televised locally of Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the fifth and final meeting of the season series between the Central Division teams. The Stars are 2-1-1 to date against the Blues. However, the lone regulation loss came in the last meeting, as St. Louis shut Dallas out by a 3-0 score.
The Stars enter play six points out of the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference with five games left to play. They do not control their own destiny, and were unable to gain any ground last game as they sustained a 5-3 home loss to the Calgary Flames on Monday.
The Stars may welcome young right winger Valeri Nichushkin back to the lineup for the Blues game. The second-season pro has been out for five months after undergoing hip surgery to correct an issue that bothered him from the start of training camp. Nichushkin recently completed a three-game conditioning assignment with the AHL's Texas Stars.
Dallas also expects to have defenseman Jordie Benn (back spasms) back in the lineup. Benn missed the games against Vancouver and Calgary that completed the Stars' schedule in March. Veteran forward Shawn Horcoff (illness) is questionable for this game.
The Blues already know they will be in the playoffs. The question is whether they will win the Central Division (Nashville is one point ahead with one fewer game remaining), or play Chicago in the first round. There is also first-round home ice still at stake. St. Louis enters this game coming off a convincing 4-1 home win over Calgary on Thursday night.
On the injury front, St. Louis is missing two important forwards. Both Alexander Steen (lower body) and Vladimir Tarasenko (lower-body) are day-to-day and unlikely to be available for Friday's game.