Dallas Stars Search For Offensive Help vs. Blues – Preview
The Dallas Stars may look beaten and lacking, but they still continue the fight to get to the postseason. The next step in their battle will take place at the Scottrade Center on Tuesday night when they take on the St. Louis Blues. This will be the third of five meetings between the two clubs. The Blues won the first game in October in overtime by a score of 4-3, while the Stars pulled off a regulation win in December by the same score. The last two games are scheduled for March 15th and April 3rd with both being played in Dallas. Tonight’s game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Southwest (FSSW), and you can also hear it on 1310AM/96.7FM The Ticket. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM CST from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Records and Scores
The Dallas Stars are surprisingly still in the running for a playoff spot, but key injuries Friday night may have finally derailed their hopes. The Stars currently hoist a record of 26-22-8 with 60 points, good enough for sixth place in the Central Division and fifth in the wild card race. They rest five points out of the final wild card spot and eight points out of the first with two games in hand, but are battling with four other teams for just two spots. Their most recent game was on Saturday where they were hounded by the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 4-1. They are 3-2-0 in their last five games.
The St. Louis Blues, on the other hand, are in great shape. They boast a record of 37-15-4 with 78 points, good enough for second place in the Central Division. They only sit four points behind the Nashville Predators for first in the division, and have the second most points in the league. Their most recent game came as a win against the Florida Panthers by a score of 2-1. They are 3-2-0 in their last five games.
Storylines
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App Trigger
Time for the younglings to step up
The Dallas Stars lost the services of Tyler Seguin, Ales Hemsky, and Patrick Eaves on Friday night during a matchup with the Florida Panthers. Hemsky and Eaves may return soon, but Seguin is guaranteed out for at least 3-6 weeks. As hard as it may seem to admit, this one injury (cheap shot) could very well have dropped the Stars out of playoff contention for good. With these players benched, the Stars are forced to call on the services of two young rookies: Brett Ritchie and Curtis McKenzie. Both players have served stints with the Stars this year while changing between the NHL and AHL. They have been able to fill the desired voids early on in the season, but now face an even more difficult task. They will need to aid in sparking an extreme amount of offensive firepower if the Stars want to continue winning games and climbing the standings. Ritchie has three goals and four points in just eleven games with the team and can pack a punch on the physical side as well. A lot, including playoff hopes, rides on how these two young rookies will perform down the stretch coming up.
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Bleedin' Blue
Who needs losses anyways?
The St. Louis Blues, sitting comfortably in second place in the Central Division with little worry of not making the postseason, are on a rather hot streak that many Stars fans may cringe at. Over the last 18 games, the Blues are 15-2-1. Over the span, they have outscored their opponents by a margin of 67-40. The Stars win back on December 27th was one of their last five games to lose. The Blues will look to continue their trend against the weak Stars, and Dallas will need to do everything in its power to slow them down.
Injury report
The Dallas Stars will be missing the services of F Tyler Seguin (knee), F Patrick Eaves (concussion), F Ales Hemsky (lower-body injury), F Valeri Nichushkin (hip), and D Patrik Nemeth (arm). Rich Peverley (heart) remains on non-playing IR.
The St. Louis Blues will be without D Kevin Shattenkirk and F Robby Fabbri. F Chris Porter will be a game-time decision.
Projected lines
Dallas Stars
Jamie Benn – Jason Spezza – Erik Cole
Antoine Roussel – Cody Eakin – Ryan Garbutt
Curtis McKenzie – Vernon Fiddler – Brett Ritchie
Travis Moen – Shawn Horcoff – Colton Sceviour
Alex Goligoski – John Klingberg
Jyrki Jokipakka – Trevor Daley
Jordie Benn – Jason Demers
Kari Lehtonen
St. Louis Blues
Alexander Steen – David Backes – TJ Oshie
Jaden Schwartz – Jori Lehtera – Vladimir Tarasenko
Dmitrij Jaskin – Paul Stastny – Patrik Berglund
Steve Ott – Marcel Goc – Ryan Reaves
Chris Butler – Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson – Jay Bouwmeester
Barret Jackman – Ian Cole
Brian Elliott
Prediction
This game has nothing good going for the Stars, while it has everything good going for the Blues. St. Louis is going to walk away with a 4-2 victory tonight. Let’s hope for playoffs sake that I’m wrong.