STARS-BLUES GAME PREVIEW (10:15 AM, CST)
In the second game of a five-game homestand, Lindy Ruff's Dallas Stars (19-12-6) will play host to Ken Hitchcock's St. Louis Blues (25-7-5) at the American Airlines Center. Game time is 5 p.m. CST. The match will be televised locally on Fox Sports Southwest.
This is the second of five meetings between the Central Division clubs this season. On Nov. 23 in St. Louis, the host Blues laid a 6-1 whipping on the Stars.
The Stars enter this game coming off a 4-1 win over Nashville on Friday night. Dallas has posted a 4-0-1 record over its last five games, outscoring opponents by an 18-8 margin over that span. After playing inconsistently on home ice for much of the first two months of the season, the Stars have gone 5-1-2 in their last eight games at the AAC.
Dallas' top line has been on fire in the month of December, and Stars captain Jamie Benn has rediscovered his finishing touch in recent games. Benn has three goals in the last four games, including a nifty wraparound goal off the line rush in the opening minute of Friday's game against Nashville.
Additionally, Erik Cole has three goals in his last four games. He has eight goals and nine assists on the season. Three of the goals and two of the assists have come over the last three matches.
Despite the Stars' major injury woes on the blueline, the club has been finding ways to win and to keep the opposition's score down. Kari Lehtonen and Dan Ellis deserve a big share of the credit for Dallas holding opponents to two regulation goals or less in each of the last five games, but the team as a whole has been paying more attention to defensive detail of late.
Stephane Robidas (fractured right leg), Trevor Daley (high ankle sprain) and Sergei Gonchar (concussion) remain out of the lineup for the Stars. Additionally, according to the Stars' official website, Alex Goligoski sat out yesterday's practice with an illness but is not listed as a potential scratch for this evening.
The flu bug appears to be going around the Dallas locker room. Apart from Goligoski, forwards Cody Eakin, Alex Chiasson and Rich Peverley did not feel up to practicing yesterday. Of the group, Chiasson is listed as questionable for today. The others are not on the likely absence list.
In fact, the Stars reassigned forward Colton Sceviour -- who stepped up to deliver three goals and four points during a seven-game callup to the big club -- to the AHL's Texas Stars. That suggests the Stars should have a reasonably complete lineup available up front.
The Blues have posted a 3-0-1 mark over their last four games and 6-1-2 over the last 10. The club is coming off an emotional 6-5 home shootout win over Chicago last night.
At different junctures of last night's game, St. Louis trailed by scores of 3-1 and 5-3. The team rallied for two goals in the final four minutes of regulation just to get one point out of the game, and then grabbed the second point via shootout.
Hitchcock-coached teams are primarily known for their commitment to defense, but the current Blues team has a lot of different ways to beat opponents. The defense has been misplaced a bit lately -- St. Louis has allowed three or more goals in six of their last eight matches -- but the team can still find other means to victory.
St. Louis recently lost its top goal-scorer, Alexander Steen, to a concussion. The NHL's second-leading goal scorer to date (24 tallies) is on injured reserve. Additionally, the availability of former Stars center Derek Roy (illness) and forward Vladimir Sobotka (upper body) are questionable for tonight. Apart from Steen, forward Ryan Reaves (hand injury) and defenseman Jordan Leopold (broken finger) are definitely out.
In the absence of Steen, Jaden Schwartz has been stepping up of late. The young forward has four goals in the last four games. Vladimir Tarasenko notched his 12th goal of the season and added an assist in last night's win over Chicago. Patrik Berglund tied the game late in regulation.
St. Louis forward Brenden Morrow should get a hearty reception when he steps on the ice for the game. Tonight's tilt marks the longtime Dallas captain's first game back in Big D since he was traded to Pittsburgh near the trade deadline last season.
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