Stars at Predators preview

The Stars, who will host the Predators at Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas on Jan. 1, lost 3-2 in overtime to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday and are 3-0-1 in their past four games following a four-game winless streak (0-3-1).

Dallas defeated Nashville in six games in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.

Peter Laviolette will coach his 1,200th NHL game, becoming the 20th coach in history to reach the milestone. He has a record of 243-139-58 with the Predators, who are 5-2-2 in their past nine games.

Players to watch

Stars forward Tyler Seguin has three assists in his past eight games and has no goals in his past 10 games.

Predators forward Calle Jarnkrok has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak and 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.

They said it

"It's the playoffs that create rivalries, it's not the regular season. We played them last year in the playoffs and this is their first kick at us. I'm sure they're going to come out and recreate that rivalry. It's a big divisional game and we've got to be ready for it." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness

"We played them in the playoffs last year, we're playing the Winter Classic against them, it's a Central Division rival. It's a huge game for us and it's a huge game for them so, yeah, it definitely means a lot." -- Predators captain Roman Josi

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Mattias Janmark -- Tyler Seguin

Alexander Radulov -- Roope Hintz -- Joe Pavelski

Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau

Denis Gurianov -- Jason Dickinson -- Corey Perry

Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg

Jamie Oleksiak -- Miro Heiskanen

Andrej Sekera -- Roman Polak

Anton Khudobin

Ben Bishop

Scratched: Justin Dowling, Taylor Fedun

Injured: Stephen Johns (post-traumatic headaches)

Predators projected lineup

Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Calle Jarnkrok

Kyle Turris -- Matt Duchene -- Mikael Granlund

Rocco Grimaldi -- Nick Bonino -- Craig Smith

Daniel Carr -- Colton Sissons -- Austin Watson

Roman Josi -- Ryan Ellis

Mattias Ekholm -- Dante Fabbro

Dan Hamhuis -- Yannick Weber

Pekka Rinne

Juuse Saros

Scratched: Matt Irwin, Yakov Trenin

Injured: Viktor Arvidsson (lower body)

Status report

Klingberg was a late scratch Friday because of a family illness but is expected to play. 

Stat pack

Turris is three points from 400 in the NHL. … Granlund needs two goals to reach 100. …. The Stars are 12-for-12 on the penalty kill in their past five games. … Janmark is one point from 100 in the NHL.