Blues at Stars preview

BLUES (34-17-10) at STARS (35-19-6)
8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-SW+, FS-MW, NHL.TV

The Stars, who are 5-0-1 in their past six games after going 3-4-1 in their previous eight games, trail the Blues by two points for the division lead and are one point ahead of the third-place Colorado Avalanche.
The Blues are seeking their third straight shutout after going 0-3-2 in the previous five games. St. Louis, which will finish a back-to-back set, defeated the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday (1-0) and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (3-0). The Blues are 4-7-3 in their past 14 games.

Players to watch

Blues goalie Jake Allen is 9-5-0 with a 2.17 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and three shutouts in 15 games against the Stars.
Stars captain Jamie Benn has 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 42 games against the Blues, including 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in his past 15 home games against them.

They said it

"They're a good team. I've said this for a while that they're probably one of the better teams in the League for sure. They're deep and they can play a lot of different ways. Great goaltending, good defense, and they're a solid team all around. It's going to be a hard game."-- Blues coach Craig Berube
"We'll find out again tonight. They're very physical and we're at our best when we're physical. It's the playoffs that improve rivalries, and because of last year, this is a pretty good rivalry. We've had three pretty good games with these guys and tonight is going to be another good one." -- Stars coach Rick Bowness

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Brayden Schenn
Zach Sanford -- Robert Thomas -- David Perron
Alexander Steen -- Tyler Bozak -- Jordan Kyrou
Sammy Blais -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Ivan Barbashev
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Marco Scandella -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Justin Faulk
Jake Allen
Jordan Binnington
Scratched:Robert Bortuzzo, Jacob de la Rose, Mackenzie MacEachern
Injured:Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Jay Bouwmeester (cardiac episode)

Stars projected lineup

Roope Hintz -- Tyler Seguin -- Corey Perry
Jamie Benn -- Jason Dickinson -- Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano -- Radek Faksa -- Blake Comeau
Mattias Janmark -- Joe Pavelski -- Alexander Radulov
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen -- Stephen Johns
Jamie Oleksiak -- Roman Polak
Ben Bishop
Anton Khudobin
Scratched:Andrej Sekera, Taylor Fedun
Injured:Justin Dowling (lower body)

Status report

The Blues did not hold a morning skate. … Bishop will make his fourth start in five games.

Stat pack

The Blues have allowed a combined 31 shots on goal in their past two games. … Benn needs one goal for 300 in the NHL. … Bishop is 5-3-0 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .942 save percentage in eight games against the Blues with the Stars.