STARS (37-15-5) at BLUES (32-17-9)
TV: 8 p.m. ET; NBCSN
Season series: David Backes has a goal, an assist and a shootout winner for the St. Louis Blues, who have won two of three against the Dallas Stars. Each Blues win came on home ice, 3-0 on Dec. 12, when Jake Allen made 26 saves, and 3-2 in a shootout Dec. 26. The Stars won 3-0 in Dallas on Dec. 27; Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves. Vladimir Tarasenko has a goal and an assist for St. Louis; Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp each have a goal and two assists for Dallas.
Stars team scope: Lehtonen likely will start after Antti Niemi made 24 saves in a 3-2 overtime win at the Nashville Predators on Monday. Lehtonen, who has won three straight starts, is 13-6-2 with a 2.10 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in 23 career games against St. Louis. After sustaining an undisclosed injury in a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals on Saturday, forward Cody Eakin scored a shorthanded goal Monday to tie it 1-1. "I felt better today," Eakin said. "A little bit looser and moving a little bit better and had my strength with me. It was good to feel that way." The Stars, who have won four in a row, are in a stretch of playing five of six games on the road; they've won five in a row away from American Airlines Center. Dallas is tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for first in the Central Division with 79 points but by virtue of fewer games played, the Stars are on top; each team is six points ahead of the Blues. Sharp has 44 points (16 goals, 28 assists) in 58 career games against St. Louis, and Benn has 21 (10 goals, 11 assists) in 25.
Blues team scope: Goalie Brian Elliott is expected to make his 15th consecutive start, a career high. Since Jake Allen injured his knee Jan. 8, Elliott is 9-3-3 with a 1.78 GAA and .945 save percentage in 15 games. St. Louis did not practice Monday. Allen and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (knee) skated with the Blues in Florida. Pietrangelo, initially scheduled to miss three weeks, surprised teammates when he was on the ice for a full practice. Rookie forward Robby Fabbri is on a career-high four-game point streak (two goals, five assists); he has six points in the past six games. Center Paul Stastny has 34 points (17 goals, 17 assists) in 35 career games against the Stars, and Tarasenko has 11 (seven goals, four assists) in 12. Left wing Scottie Upshall is expected to play in his 600th NHL game.
Jake Allen took no offense when the St. Louis Blues weren't too worried about Brian Elliott stepping in as the No. 1 goaltender following Allen's injury last month.
Pretty soon they'll have both of them.
Allen's return is imminent, although it's unclear if he'll be ready to play Tuesday night as the Blues host surging Dallas looking to tighten the Central Division race by beating the Stars for the third time in four meetings this season.
Elliott has gone 9-3-2 with a 1.72 goals-against average since Allen went down with a lower-body injury Jan. 8, improving his season GAA to 2.07 over 30 appearances. He also has a league-leading .933 save percentage, besting Allen's marks of 2.17 and .924.
Allen has been skating with the team and could return any day. Elliott, though, was in net for a two-game trip to the Sunshine State, making 30 saves in Friday's 5-3 win over Florida before stopping 37 shots in Sunday's 2-1 win over Tampa Bay.
The Blues (32-17-9), who are among the stingiest teams in the league with 2.31 goals allowed per game, have gone 3-0-1 since dropping three of their previous four. They trail Central co-leaders Dallas (37-15-5) and Chicago by six points.
"From the start of the year, both our goalies didn't surprise anyone," said rookie center Robby Fabbri, who has scored in the last two and also has three assists during a four-game point streak. "We knew how good they were. They've kept us in games. They've won us games."
St. Louis also has gotten a boost from the return of Jaden Schwartz, who had a goal and an assist against the Panthers in his first game since missing the previous 49 with a fractured left ankle.
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has been out the last three with a right knee injury, but he's been skating with the club and also could return soon.
"This defense has really rallied around missing (Pietrangelo)," coach Ken Hitchcock said. "It looks like we found some rhythm. We're starting to really play well and we have to keep playing well."
The Stars also have been hot lately and won their fourth straight Monday when Mattias Janmark scored 3:49 into overtime of a 3-2 victory over Nashville that began a three-game trip. They've won five straight away from home following an 0-5-3 road stretch Dec. 26-Jan. 19.
Cody Eakin and Ales Hemsky also scored for Dallas, which has won seven of its last eight - the only loss coming at Chicago on Thursday - to tie the Blackhawks atop the division with three games in hand.
"We wanted to keep rolling," coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought it was a heck of a hockey game. It was who was going to finish or which goalie was going to give in a little bit, and neither one wanted to give in."
The Stars have had some trouble against St. Louis, though. The Blues won the first meeting 3-0 on Dec. 12 behind Allen's 26 saves. St. Louis won a nine-round shootout for a 3-2 victory Dec. 26 with Allen in net, but Elliott's 33 saves weren't enough in Dallas' 3-0 home win the following night that ended a four-game skid in the series.
Antti Niemi was in net for both defeats, while Kari Lehtonen picked up his only shutout of the season with 22 saves in the previous meeting. Lehtonen could get the start in this one after Niemi stopped 24 shots Monday.
