Stars at Blues preview

STARS (16-11-1) at BLUES (18-8-2)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-SW, NHL.TV

Starter Ben Bishop did not make the trip to St. Louis because of a sore back. Coach Ken Hitchcock said Bishop, who was pulled from a 5-2 home loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, worked out in Dallas on Thursday and felt better.
Rookie defenseman Vince Dunn will dress for St. Louis after being a healthy scratch the past two games.
St. Louis is 4-5-0 in its past nine games at Scottrade Center, including consecutive losses to the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings, after starting the season with five straight home wins.

Players to watch

Stars forward Jamie Benn has one assist in each of his past three games. He has 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in 31 games against the Blues.
Blues center Brayden Schenn had his third NHL hat trick Tuesday in a 4-3 win at the Montreal Canadiens. They were his first points in six games after an NHL career-high eight-game point streak (seven goals, 12 assists).

They said it

"It's a veteran team. They know how to play the right way. They cut you to death over 60 minutes and you just bleed out." -- Stars coach Ken Hitchcock on the Blues
"You look at the way that Dallas has been playing, they've been playing very physical. So this is a different type of game that we've seen the last couple games. It's going to have a different feel tonight." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov
Curtis McKenzie
-- Jason Spezza -- Brett Ritchie
Remi Elie -- Mattias Janmark -- Devin Shore
Gemel Smith -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Jamie Oleksiak -- Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Mike McKenna
Scratched:Julius Honka
Injured:Ben Bishop (back), Marc Methot (knee), Antoine Roussel (illness), Martin Hanzal (hamstring),

Blues projected lineup

Vladimir Sobotka -- Paul Stastny -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Alexander Steen
Magnus Paajarvi -- Patrik Berglund -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Chris Thorburn
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson -- Vince Dunn
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Robert Bortuzzo, Oskar Sundqvist, Sammy Blais
Injured:Zach Sanford (shoulder)

Status report

Hitchcock said he wanted to see how Roussel felt after the morning skate. He's missed the Stars' past three games. McKenna was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Thursday. ... Dunn replaces Bortuzzo, who played the past two games. Thorburn, a healthy scratch the past two games, replaces Blais.

Stat pack

Though the Stars are 5-1-0 in their past six games, they are 0-5-0 against the three teams ahead of them in the Central Division, the Blues, Predators and Winnipeg Jets. Dallas has been outscored 22-8 in those games. ... The Blues are 2-3-1 in their past six games after winning 10 of 13.