Blues look for third win against Stars on Friday

DALLAS - After losing their grip on first place in the Central Division, the Blues get a chance to jump back to the top with another divisional matchup on Friday night in Dallas.
The Blues will meet Ken Hitchcock's Stars at 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
Fans can follow the action live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports GO and KMOX 1120 AM.

BLUES The Blues continued their search for more offense on Wednesday night, losing a tight 2-1 game against the division rival Predators at Scottrade Center.
Jake Allen made 24 saves and Vladimir Sobotka scored the Blues only goal in the loss, which saw St. Louis fall out of first place in the division.
"I'm frustrated," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said. "Not because I don't think that we can score goals, but I just think we're better than (this)."
"It's a hard League to get goals in," added Blues forward Kyle Brodziak. "We're not feeling too good about our offensive game right now. We just have to keep working at and trust it. We've got the players in here to do it. We just have to get that mojo going again."

STARS The Dallas Stars dropped a 4-2 decision to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night at Xcel Energy Center, a loss Hitchcock called the team's "poorest effort by a mile."
"We had a lot of momentum when we took the (Christmas) break," Hitchcock told NHL.com after Wednesday's game. "Obviously with the show tonight, we've lost the momentum. So it's on us to get it back. … We were playing very good hockey. Whether this is a one-off or not, we'll see. But this was exactly the way we played earlier where you're just hoping to win."
Prior to Wednesday's loss, the Stars had won two straight, climbing into fourth place in the Central Division with a 20-15-3 record (43 points).
THE MATCHUP The Blues have won both matchups with the Stars this season, including a 3-0 win against Dallas on Dec. 7 in the last meeting. Overall, the Blues have gone 11-2-0 in their last 13 regular-season games against the Stars, which includes a current 5-game win streak. The Blues are 5-2-0 in their last seven trips to Dallas.

HOT VS. DALLAS

• Paul Stastny has 11 points in his last eight games against the Stars (three goals, eight assists).
  - Alex Pietrangelo has seven points in his last six games against Dallas (three goals, four assists).
  - Brayden Schenn has six points in his last four contests against the Stars (four goals, two assists).
  - Vladimir Tarasenko has scored goals in three straight games against Dallas.
  - Jake Allen is 5-0-0 with a .950 save-percentage, a 1.36 goals-against average and two shutouts in his last five home starts against the Stars.

BLUE NOTES

• Jay Bouwmeester practiced with the team on Thursday and could return to the lineup soon. Bouwmeester has missed eight games with a lower-body injury.
  - The Blues' penalty kill ranks second in the League in the month of December, killing 95.3 percent of the opposition's penalties. The PK units were perfect Wednesday against Nashville, going 5-for-5.
  - Friday's game against Dallas will be Colton Parayko's 200th career NHL game.