"We're just worried about the two points," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "That's all we've talked about. We haven't talked about division or opponents or nothing, just the two points at hand."
Goalie Pekka Rinne will likely start for the Predators. Rinne was pulled in the first period Monday after allowing three goals on 10 shots against Colorado.
The Stars (99 points) are tied with the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Western Conference, but own the tiebreaker because they have 43 regulation/overtime wins (ROW) compared to the Blues' 40. Dallas clinched a playoff berth with a 6-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on March 22.
"They're a top team in the Western Conference and we know we got our hands full. They got a lot of weapons," Laviolette said. "They're capable of hurting you in a lot of different ways. We're going to have to be good defensively, layer properly and make good decisions with the puck so they don't counterattack."
Dallas, who has won four of its past five games, held an optional morning skate. Goalie Kari Lehtonen will start for the 10th time in the past 12 games.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff said defenseman Kris Russell (lower body), who has missed the past three games, will not play Tuesday against Nashville and Thursday against the Arizona Coyotes.
"He's still not in the right place and we just feel we have a luxury of making sure that he's right before we stick him out there," Ruff said. "He's practiced with us three or four times, he could play but we just feel the smart thing is to keep him off."
Ruff is keeping his forward lines and defensive pairs identical from a 4-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Here are the projected lineups:
PREDATORS
Calle Jarnkrok - Ryan Johansen - James Neal
Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - Viktor Arvidsson
Eric Nystrom - Colton Sissons - Miikka Salomaki
Roman Josi - Shea Weber
Mattias Ekholm - Petter Granberg
Barret Jackman - Ryan Ellis
Pekka Rinne
Carter Hutton
Injured: Anthony Bitetto (lower body), Gabriel Bourque (upper body), Paul Gaustad (upper body)
Scratched: Austin Watson.
STARS
Jamie Benn - Cody Eakin - Patrick Sharp
Mattias Janmark - Jason Spezza - Valeri Nichushkin
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Ales Hemsky
Colton Sceviour - Vernon Fiddler - Patrick Eaves
Alex Goligoski - John Klingberg
Johnny Oduya - Stephen Johns
Patrik Nemeth - Jordie Benn
Kari Lehtonen
Antti Niemi
Injured: Jason Demers (shoulder), Brett Ritchie (lower body), Kris Russell (lower body), Tyler Seguin (Achilles)
Scratched: Travis Moen, Jamie Oleksiak
Status report:Laviolette said there are no further updates on Bitetto (lower body), Bourque (upper body) and Gaustad (upper body). … Demers (shoulder) skated Monday but was limited. He will be evaluated again at the beginning of next week.
Who's hot:Neal has five points (three goals) in his past four games. … Rinne is 12-1-3 in his past 17 games. … Jamie Benn, second in the NHL with 83 points and third with 37 goals, has 21 points (13 assists) in 26 games against Nashville. … Klingberg has six assists in six games against the Predators. … Spezza has 16 points (10 assists) in 16 games against Nashville.
