Stars at Blues
The St. Louis Blues appear to have rebounded from a brief wobble and go for their fourth consecutive victory when they host the injury-riddled Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. St. Louis allowed 11 goals in back-to-back losses following a white-hot 12-0-1 stretch but has recovered with three straight wins capped by a sweep of a two-game trip through the Sunshine State. The Blues have lost four of five to the Stars, including the last three in St. Louis.
Dallas had resuscitated its postseason hopes by winning three in a row but the last victory came at a hefty price as All-Star Tyler Seguin and fellow forwards Patrick Eaves and Ales Hemsky suffered injuries. Seguin (knee) is expected to miss three-to-six weeks, Eaves is recovering from a concussion while Hemsky (lower body) is listed as day-to-day but will miss Tuesday's matchup. The Stars lost at Colorado in their first game without the trio - the first time in 10 games they were held under two goals.
TV: 8 p.m. FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE STARS (26-22-8): Jason Spezza had the lone goal in the loss to Colorado and has scored three times in four games as he prepares to take over the role of center on the No. 1 line. “I think my game is all-around in a better place, and I think I’ve improved the offensive numbers in the last month," said Spezza, who has collected 15 points in his last 14 games. “It’s not out of my comfort zone. In fact, sometimes you crave the extra time.” Forward Antoine Roussel returns to the lineup after a two-game suspension for cross-checking.
ABOUT THE BLUES (37-15-4): St. Louis received a scare at Monday's practice when forward Patrik Berglund crashed into the boards and needed help getting off the ice, but coach Ken Hitchcock said it was "not a big deal." Hitchcock is also mulling lineup changes, replacing Jori Lehtera with Paul Stastny on a line with Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz. "We'd like to see more balanced production offensively and defensively, so we're looking at maybe making a couple of minor tweaks and changes and see if we can get a new energy with it," Hitchcock said.
OVERTIME
1. Blues G Brian Elliott owns a 4-2-0 record against Dallas.
2. Spezza is riding a five-game point streak, one shy of his season high.
3. Blues F Chris Porter, sidelined since Dec. 29 with a broken ankle, is poised to return to the lineup.