Preview: Blues vs. Stars

BLUES VS. STARS

When:Sunday, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m. CT
Where: Rogers Place in Edmonton
Watch: NBC, NBC Sports App
Listen: 101 ESPN, NHL App

The winner of Sunday's round-robin finale between the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars will get the third seed in the Western Conference and a first-round playoff matchup with the Calgary Flames when the Stanley Cup Playoffs officially begin in a few days.

The losing team will get the fourth seed and would play the Vancouver Canucks in Round 1.

"These games, even though they're not elimination games, are still very important," said Troy Brouwer, who scored in Thursday's 6-4 loss to Vegas. "We have to make sure we start trending the right way getting into that first series. We obviously don't know who we're playing. We need to go into that series and Game 1 with a good feeling and confidence in our group."

When the NHL season paused on March 12, the Blues held the No. 1 seed in the West. But because of back-to-back losses in the round robin to Colorado and Vegas, the Blues won't be able to claim the top seed for the playoffs. Granted, home-ice advantage won't be much of a factor with the games taking place in two hub cities this year, but the Blues still feel that Sunday's matchup with the division-rival Stars is a critical one.

"I think (we need to) just come in Sunday with the right attitude, the right approach to the game," said Colton Parayko. "We've got to be ready for Sunday. Dallas is a good team, they always play us hard. Make sure we play tight, play our style of hockey. There's obviously no doubt if we do that."

Jake Allen will start Sunday against the Stars. Vladimir Tarasenko and Robert Thomas, who each sat out Thursday's game against Vegas as precautions, will be back in the lineup on Sunday.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

The Stars were shutout in their last round-robin game on Wednesday - a 4-0 loss to the Avalanche. Goalie Anton Khudobin made 36 saves for Dallas in the loss.

Goalie Ben Bishop and defenseman John Klingberg were ruled unfit to play on Wednesday against Colorado, but Stars Head Coach Rick Bowness said he was hopeful his club would have a healthy lineup for Sunday's meeting with the Blues.

Dating back to before the season paused, the Stars have lost eight consecutive games (0-6-2), which excludes a loss in the exhibition game in Edmonton as well. Their last win was Feb. 25 vs. Carolina.

Since the Minnesota North Stars relocated to Dallas, the Blues are 14-14 against the Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blues have won each of the last two series against the Stars, both in seven games.