Blues at Stars
THE STORY: The St. Louis Blues kick off their four-game road trip Thursday with revenge on their minds. St. Louis will visit the American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Stars, who won all four meetings between the teams last season - three by just one goal. The Stars posted identical 3-2 victories on home ice, one of which was decided in a shootout. The Blues have won only four of their last 15 contests in Dallas, while the Stars have captured four straight at home overall, including two this campaign. Dallas' Loui Eriksson has been a thorn in St. Louis' side, recording 14 points in 18 career games against the Blues. Last campaign, Eriksson scored the game-tying goal as well as the decisive shootout tally in the clubs' first encounter in October, then potted the winning score in a 2-1 triumph on Nov. 27.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest, FSN Southwest
ABOUT THE BLUES (1-1-0): St. Louis' defense has been stingy over its first two games of the season, allowing a total of 33 shots on goal. However, goaltender Jaroslav Halak has not held up his end, surrendering five tallies for an ugly .844 save percentage. With Carlo Colaiacovo sidelined with an upper body injury suffered in the season opener, the Blues added a defenseman Tuesday by claiming Taylor Chorney off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers. The 24-year old registered one goal, six assists and 16 penalty minutes in 56 career games with Edmonton over parts of three seasons but did not appear in the Oilers' season-opening win over Pittsburgh.
ABOUT THE STARS (2-1-0): Dallas added a forward on Wednesday, acquiring left wing Eric Nystrom from the Minnesota Wild for future considerations. The 28-year old, who was recorded four goals and eight assists in 82 games with Minnesota last season, was placed on waivers last Thursday but went unclaimed and was assigned to the AHL. Nystrom also cleared re-entry waivers Wednesday morning, and the Stars elected to trade for him instead because they needed to put his entire $1.4 million salary on the books in order to get above the $48.3 million salary floor. Had they claimed him off waivers, they only would have been responsible for half of Nystrom's salary.
OVERTIME:
1. Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen is off to a great start this season. Lehtonen is 2-0 and has allowed just one goal in each outing, turning aside 77 shots for a .975 save percentage.
2. St. Louis center Jason Arnott is the only player on either team with two goals thus far this campaign.