Blues at Stars preview

BLUES (15-5-6) at STARS (15-9-2)
8:30 p.m. ET; SNE, SNW, SNP, FS-SW+, FS-MW, NHL.TV

The Stars have won seven consecutive home games, one shy of a Dallas record eight-game home winning streak from Jan. 23-March 13, 2006. The longest home winning streak in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history is 11 games, set from Nov. 4-Dec. 27, 1972.
Dallas is 14-2-1 in its past 17 games after opening the season 1-7-1. The Stars lost 3-0 at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday to end a seven-game winning streak and 12-game point streak (11-0-1).
The Blues are 3-1-1 in their past five games following a three-game winless streak (0-1-2).

Players to watch

Blues forward David Perron has five points (three goals, two assists) in a five-game point streak.
Stars defenseman John Klingberg has four assists in his past three games after missing the previous six with a lower-body injury.

They said it

"Every team has to [trust its organization's depth] at some point. It's unfortunate with these injuries and more than anything, it's the length of them that hurts. We're going to need these guys to play well for a while." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"It's like another playoff game. It's a big game for us because it's a four-point game. We can get closer to them if we win tonight. I would say it's probably the most important game of the season so far." -- Stars forward Radek Faksa

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Robert Thomas
Zach Sanford -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Ivan Barbashev -- Tyler Bozak -- Troy Brouwer
Mackenzie MacEachern -- Jacob de la Rose -- Nathan Walker
Vince Dunn -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Derrick Pouliot -- Justin Faulk
Jake Allen
Jordan Binnington
Scratched: Austin Poganski
Injured:Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body), Alexander Steen (ankle sprain), Sammy Blais (wrist), Oskar Sundqvist (lower body), Carl Gunnarsson (illness)
Suspended: Robert Bortuzzo

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn -- Justin Dowling -- 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
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched: Mattias Janmark, Taylor Fedun
Injured: Stephen Johns (post traumatic headaches)

Status report

Walker and Pouliot each will make his St. Louis debut. … Dowling will return to the lineup after missing the past two games with nausea. … Stars defenseman Joel Hanley was placed on waivers Friday with the intent to reassign him to Texas of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Pietrangelo is one goal from 100 in the NHL. … Schenn has five points (two goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak. … St. Louis is 4-1-1 against the Central Division this season. … The Blues will return to American Airlines Center for the first time since the second round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. … Dallas is 5-2-1 against the Central Division this season. … Seguin has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his past seven games.