Blues look to start winning streak Saturday in Dallas

DALLAS - The St. Louis Blues will wrap up the season series with the Dallas Stars on Saturday at 1 p.m. at American Airlines Center in Dallas (FSMW, FSGO, Y98 FM).
The Blues and Stars are two of the teams battling for spots in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the Western Conference. Dallas currently owns the first Wild Card spot with 77 points, while the Blues are tied with the Anaheim Ducks (74 points) for the second Wild Card position.

THE MATCHUP

BLUES Scottie Upshall and Alex Pietrangelo scored to snap a season-long seven game winless streak on Wednesday in a 2-1 Blues' victory over the Detroit Red Wings at Scottrade Center.
Carter Hutton made 35 saves to earn his 16th victory of the season.
"That was a big win for us," Blues forward Chris Thorburn said after the game. "It wasn't pretty, it wasn't how we drew it up but at the same time, we got the two points we've been searching for for awhile… We've been saying it all year. We've got a strong group in here with a lot of character and it showed tonight."
"I think a lot of guys put a lot in today, especially on the defensive side of the game to make sure that things stay out of our net," Pietrangelo said. "Overall, a pretty good game. Got away from it a bit there in the second, but we grabbed it there in the third and it was a big push tonight."
Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said Friday that Robert Bortuzzo, who has been on injured reserve with a knee injury, might be ready to return Saturday. Bortuzzo has been sidelined for five games.

STARS Mattias Janmark scored with 3.5 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime in Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The goal, which came with the extra attacker and was initially reviewed for goaltender interference, assured Dallas at least one point in the extremely tight Western Conference playoff race.
But Tampa Bay's Cory Conacher made sure one point was all Dallas would get when he scored the game-winner with 41 seconds left in overtime, giving the Lightning a 5-4 victory.
"I'm really pleased with the way we played the game," Stars Head Coach Ken Hitchcock told NHL.com. "We made a couple of mistakes and paid the price for it, but we played a very good hockey game and especially in the third period."
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues have split the season series with Dallas this season (2-2-0). The home teams have won every game in the series so far. Dallas took a 2-1 victory in the last meeting on Feb. 16.
Prior to losing two straight against Dallas, the Blues had won five consecutive games against the Stars.
The Blues have points in 11 of their last 15 games against Dallas (11-4-0).

HOT VS. DALLAS

• Vladimir Tarasenko has a five-game point streak (four goals, one assist)
  - Jaden Schwartz has 12 points in his last 10 games (six goals, six assists)
  - Brayden Schenn has seven points in his last six games (five goals, two assists)
  - Alex Pietrangelo has eight points in his last eight games (three goals, five assists)
  - Alexander Steen has 10 points in his last 11 games (two goals, eight assists)

BLUE NOTES

• With Wednesday's 2-1 win against the Red Wings, the Blues swept the season series with Detroit, outscoring them 8-2 in the two matchups. The Blues have now won three straight against the Red Wings and earned points in 11 of the last 12 meetings.
  - The Blues are 28-6-2 when scoring the first goal of the game (.778), which shares the eighth-best win percentage in the League.
  - Hutton is 6-2-1 with a 1.69 goals-against average, a .943 save-percentage and two shutouts in his last nine starts.
  - Pietrangelo scored the game-winner on Wednesday, the 19th of his career. Pietrangelo is just three game-winning goals shy of tying Al MacInnis (22) for first among Blues defensemen on the all-time list.