Preview: Stars at Blues

[November 28, 2016]  The red-hot St. Louis Blues look to continue their success on home ice when they host the Central Division-rival Dallas Stars on Monday. The Blues have won five of their last six overall and improved to 9-1-2 at Scottrade Center with a 4-3 shootout victory over Minnesota on Saturday as Jake Allen helped secure at least one point for the ninth time in nine home games.

Allen is 7-0-2 with a 1.42 goals-against average and .947 save percentage at home while David Perron and Jaden Schwartz bring overall point streaks of seven and six games, respectively, into Monday’s showdown. Perron has matched his career-high scoring run and coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters Schwartz’s “level of determination is so high, it’s great to see,” as the 24-year-old has recorded five goals and three assists during his spurt. St. Louis hopes to continue its production against the Stars, who entered Sunday 29th in the league in GAA (3.27) but still are 5-2-2 in their last nine as they start a four-game road trip. Tyler Seguin, who leads Dallas with 22 points, hopes to end his nine-game goal-scoring drought – a stretch during which he has contributed eight assists.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NHL Network, Sportsnet, TVA, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE STARS (9-8-5): Dallas limited an opponent to fewer than two goals for just the second time this season Friday with a 2-1 victory over Vancouver in which it received a 30-save performance from Antti Niemi, who has given up six tallies in his last four outings. Captain Jamie Benn, who has registered four goals and nine assists in 14 games this month, is second on the team with 17 points and Patrick Eaves has notched 16. John Klingberg was back in the lineup Friday after sitting out the previous game as a healthy scratch while fellow defenseman Stephen Johns was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League.

ABOUT THE BLUES (12-7-3): Hitchcock has been pleased with the pairing of Schwartz with Paul Stastny (two goals in three games), who are skating on a line with Perron. “Work, determination, hunt, hound, all those words,” Hitchcock said of the duo's style. “When they’re dogged on the puck, they’re an effective pair. And they drag other people into the fight with them.” Vladimir Tarasenko has scored three of his team-leading nine goals in his last four games and tops the Blues with 22 points while Alex Steen (concussion) is practicing but not likely to return Monday.

OVERTIME

1. The Stars got a bit of revenge after losing in seven games to St. Louis in the second round of the playoffs last season by posting a 6-2 win on Nov. 3.

2. St. Louis D Kevin Shattenkirk entered Sunday second among all NHL blue-liners with nine points on the power play.

3. Dallas is just 1-7-3 when its opponent scores first and 0-8-1 when trailing after two periods.

PREDICTION: Stars 5, Blues 4

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