The Dallas Stars look to stay relevant in the playoff picture with a fourth victory in a row on Sunday evening when they play host to the St. Louis Blues.
The Stars have won five of their past six to keep themselves in the hunt for a playoff spot, with Dallas finding itself six points out of a wild card berth. The Stars hope to make up some more ground today by winning four in a row for the first time since Dec. 27-Jan. 3.
Dallas extended its winning streak with Friday's 4-2 victory over the Washington Capitals, getting power-play goals from Vernon Fiddler, Shawn Horcoff and Tyler Seguin. Fiddler also had an assist and Colton Sceviour tallied as well.
Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves for the Stars, who were without rookie defenseman John Klingberg for a second game in a row due to an upper-body injury.
"I just think it's a good feeling in this locker room on how we played tonight especially on a back-to-back," said Seguin, whose club was coming off Thursday's win in Carolina. "That was a big two points for us."
Friday's win capped a five-game road trip and Dallas will play the first of four in a row at home tonight. Lehtonen could get the call for the opener and is 12-4-2 with a 1.99 goals against average, .931 save percentage and two shutouts in 20 meetings (18 starts) versus the Blues.
The Stars are 5-0-2 in their last seven meetings with the Blues, but St. Louis has claimed four of the last six encounters in Dallas.
The Blues aim to rebound tonight after having a three-game win streak halted with Saturday's 3-1 setback to the visiting Minnesota Wild. The setback dropped St. Louis two points behind the Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division and it is just three points ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks in the standings.
The Blues lost to the Wild despite putting 42 shots on net as only David Backes was able to solve Minnesota netminder Devan Dubnyk. Brian Elliott came up with 16 saves in the loss.
"We need to have better production," said Backes. "We need to score more goals on 42 shots."
The Blues are set to begin a six-game road trip tonight with Jake Allen in net. He is 0-1-0 in two games (1 start) against the Stars, giving up five goals on 40 shots faced.
[SportsNetwork.com]
