Stars at Flames preview

STARS (39-31-6) at FLAMES (47-22-7)
9:30 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-SW, NHL.TV

The Stars, 2-3-1 in their past six games after going 6-1-0 in their previous seven, lead the Colorado Avalanche by three points and are six points behind the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division.
The Avalanche host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Goalie Ben Bishop, 7-1-0 with a 0.94 goals-against-average, .966 save percentage and three shutouts in his past eight games, is expected to start for Dallas.
The Flames, in first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference, lead the San Jose Sharks by six points. Calgary can secure home-ice advantage in at least the Western Conference First Round with either a point or a Golden Knights loss Wednesday.
Calgary is 6-2-0 in its past eight games following a four-game losing streak.

Players to watch

Stars forward Alexander Radulov has 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in his past 15 games.
Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk has 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"A lot of good teams are fighting to get in. A lot of teams are playing the right way at this time. That's our main focus, winning every night and giving ourselves the best chance to get points." -- Stars forward Andrew Cogliano
"Big game for both teams. We're trying to finish the season here in first in the Western Conference. They're battling for a wild-card spot. Big game for both teams. It's going to be fun." -- Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Jason Dickinson
Mattias Janmark -- Roope Hintz -- Alexander Radulov
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin -- Justin Dowling -- Jason Spezza
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Roman Polak
Taylor Fedun -- Ben Lovejoy
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Julius Honka, Jamie Oleksiak, Joel L'Esperance
Injured: Brett Ritchie (hand), Stephen Johns (upper body), Marc Methot (lower body), Martin Hanzal (back), Tyler Pitlick (upper body), Mats Zuccarello (arm)

Flames projected lineup

Johnny Gaudreau -- Derek Ryan -- Michael Frolik
Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Elias Lindholm
James Neal -- Sean Monahan -- Austin Czarnik
Andrew Mangiapane -- Mark Jankowski -- Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano -- TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin -- Travis Hamonic
Oscar Fantenberg -- Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Mike Smith
Scratched: Alan Quine , Michael Stone, Oliver Kylington, Dalton Prout
Injured: Sam Bennett (upper body)

Status report

Spezza will play in place of Ritchie. … Calgary is expected to break up its top line of Gaudreau, Monahan and Lindholm as part of a forward reshuffling. … Rittich will make his first start in four games. … The Flames held an optional morning skate.

Stat pack

Seguin has eight points (four goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak. … Giordano has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his past eight games.