"We've been going with Lehtonen, so we're going to stay with him," Ruff said abruptly.
Niemi, who relieved Lehtonen after the first period of Game 2, was the first goalie off the ice following the morning skate and Lehtonen was still working with the scratches while Ruff was speaking to the media.
Another question came, asking to be clear, regarding the first goalie off the ice, Ruff cut the question off and said, "I'm not telling you who's starting, so you don't have to ask again."
Niemi made 19 saves before allowing a goal from Blues captain David Backes at 10:58 of overtime to even the series. Niemi's teammates are used to the musical chairs with the goalies.
"Obviously, it's up the coach to make that decision," Stars center Cody Eakin said. "Whenever either one of them steps in, we're confident. They give us the ability to give us that confidence and allow us to play strong and give us a chance on any given night.
"Whether it's a switch or one starting versus the other, we're confident in both of them and we're going to play hard for them."
The Blues know goalie Brian Elliott, who took a hard shot off his mask from Stars center Jason Spezza in the third period Sunday, will play Tuesday. Elliott was on the ice for the morning skate Tuesday and appeared to show no ill effects from the shot.
The Blues are making no lineup changes.
Here are the projected lineups:
STARS
Jamie Benn - Cody Eakin - Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Colton Sceviour
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Ales Hemsky
Curtis McKenzie - Vernon Fiddler - Travis Moen
Alex Goligoski - John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya - Stephen Johns
Kris Russell - Jason Demers
Antti Niemi
Kari Lehtonen
Injured: Tyler Seguin (lower body), Patrick Eaves (foot)
Scratched: Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, Jordie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin, Brett Ritchie
BLUES
Jaden Schwartz - Jori Lehtera - Vladimir Tarasenko
Alexander Steen - Paul Stastny - Troy Brouwer
Robby Fabbri - Patrik Berglund - David Backes
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester - Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson - Kevin Shattenkirk
Carl Gunnarsson - Colton Parayko
Brian Elliott
Jake Allen
Injured: None
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Dmitrij Jaskin, Magnus Paajarvi, Steve Ott, Petteri Lindbohm, Chris Butler, Peter Harrold, Ty Rattie, Anders Nilsson
Status report: McKenzie will make his NHL playoff debut and likely replace Nichushkin, who was on the ice well after many of the gameday players were off. ... Ruff did say Eaves and Seguin both skated Tuesday, and Eaves could return as early as Game 4 or 5. It is not known when Seguin could return, but Ruff did say what is keeping Seguin out is unrelated to his initial Achilles tendon injury. "Tyler, we'll see," Ruff said. "It was his first day of really getting on the ice and getting something done. He's in a little different category [than Eaves]. … The Achilles is not an issue, not an issue, and I know that must seem strange, but it's not an issue."
Who's hot: Benn has at least one point in seven of the Stars' eight playoff games; he leads the NHL in playoff points with 12. Goligoski has a four-game point streak (three goals, one assist). ... Shattenkirk has a goal and two assists in two games against the Stars in the series and has 24 points (five goals, 19 assists) in 24 games against Dallas. Berglund has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists).
