BLUES (22-11-4) at STARS (26-7-3)
TV: FS-MW, FS-SW
Season series: It's the third of five games between the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars, and the second in less than 24 hours. The Blues won 3-2 in a shootout Saturday in St. Louis on David Backes' goal in the ninth round. St. Louis won 3-0 on Dec. 12, also at Scottrade Center, behind a 26-save shutout from goalie Jake Allen and a goal and assist from Backes.
Blues team scope: St. Louis will start Brian Elliott after Allen made 22 saves in the victory on Saturday. It will be just the second start for Elliott in nine games. He's 5-3-0 with a 3.09 goals-against average and .897 save percentage in nine games against Dallas. Center Kyle Brodziak, who skated Saturday morning but missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury, is day-to-day. The Blues are 3-3-0 on the second of back-to-back games this season. They're 1-3-0 the past four games and have been outscored 10-5. The Blues have the opportunity to sweep a back-to-back for the second time this season. "It'll be another hard-fought battle," said forward Robby Fabbri, who scored the tying goal Saturday with 1:50 remaining. "Another big game right back at it."
Stars team scope: Dallas coach Lindy Ruff didn't name a starting goalie for Sunday after Antti Niemi made 35 saves in the loss at St. Louis. Kari Lehtonen, who is 11-2-0 with a 2.66 GAA and .910 save percentage, is 12-6-2 against St. Louis with a 1.20 GAA, .922 save percentage and two shutouts. "It's a possibility," Ruff said regarding Niemi. "Something we'll give some thought on our way back [Saturday] night." The Stars are 3-1-1 in the second of back-to-back games this season; their lone regulation loss came against the Blues on Dec. 12. "It was two good teams playing [Saturday]," said Stars forward Colton Sceviour, who scored Dallas' first goal Saturday. "We have go home and play them there. It's tough in those games that are decided by a shootout."
The Dallas Stars are on the brink of their first five-game losing streak to the St. Louis Blues, and they're hoping a return home can prevent setting that dubious record.
After losing to the Blues for the second time in two weeks, the Stars attempt to salvage a split of this home-and-home set Sunday night.
Dallas (26-7-3) has a NHL-high 55 points, and it's 6-2-1 in its last nine games. However, two of those defeats have come at St. Louis (22-11-4), the Stars' closest pursuer in the Central Division.
The Stars have lost four straight to the Blues. They fell 3-2 following a nine-round shootout Saturday after the Christmas break.
"I thought it was just a little bit of scattered play where we had some pockets of energy, but we didn't skate as well as a team as we've normally skated," coach Lindy Ruff told the team's official website. "Probably the break affected us a little bit."
Perhaps a return home will help. Dallas is 14-4-0 at American Airlines Center, winning six of its last seven while averaging 3.86 goals.
Tyler Seguin is tied with linemate Jamie Benn for second in the NHL with 47 points, and his 20 goals rank fourth. The center has 12 points over the past nine games and netted his sixth goal over that stretch Saturday.
Seguin has three goals and three assists in the last four matchups with the Blues.
Like Seguin, Benn has 12 points in the last nine games, including six in the last four. The left wing has seven points over his past five home meetings with St. Louis.
The Blues have won five of six after David Backes scored in the final round of the shootout Saturday, tying the longest tiebreaker in team history.
"It's not my forte but when called upon hopefully I can contribute and (Saturday) was one of those nights," said Backes, unsuccessful in his previous four shootout attempts.
Robby Fabbri scored the tying goal with 1:50 left in regulation. The rookie center, who turns 20 next month, has found the net in three straight games after scoring five times in his first 28.
"He's a scorer," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "You don't shoot the puck like that, snap it like that, get it away like that. He's a scorer. He's going to be a big-time scorer in the National Hockey League because he gets open, he finds those pockets and the puck's gone."
Vladimir Tarasenko is already among the league's elite scorers. He's tied with Benn for the league lead with 22, six coming during an eight-game point streak in which he also has six assists.
Tarasenko, though, has only scored eight goals on the road, two over the past seven games. However, he has four goals in his last two visits to Dallas, including one of his two career hat tricks in a 4-3 overtime win on Oct. 28, 2014.
