Blues at Stars
After their stay atop the Central Division proved to be brief, the St. Louis Blues look to regain their footing when they open a six-game road trip against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. St. Louis' offense has been stuck in neutral over the last two games, emerging victorious in a 1-0 shootout over Philadelphia on Thursday before dropping a 3-1 decision to Minnesota two nights later. "This time of year, we can't have any excuses," said captain David Backes, who scored the lone goal versus the Wild. "We've got a sour taste in our mouth right now for good reason because we don't finish some plays when we've got good opportunities."
Vernon Fiddler continued his torrid stretch on Friday, scoring his career-high 12th goal - and fifth in sixth contests - as Dallas skated to a 4-2 victory over Washington. The Stars have won three in a row and are 5-0-1 in their last six to keep alive their flickering postseason hopes. Dallas has gotten the better of St. Louis this season, improving to 2-0-1 in the series after captain Jamie Benn recorded his first career hat trick in a 4-1 rout on Feb. 17.
TV: 6 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis), Fox Sports Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE BLUES (43-20-5): Vladimir Tarasenko has torched Dallas in his brief career, highlighted by his three-goal, one-assist performance in a 4-3 overtime victory on Oct. 28. The 23-year-old Russian also tallied in a 4-3 setback to the Stars on Dec. 27, but has been held off the scoresheet in each of his last two games. With Brian Elliott receiving a heavy workload, Jake Allen has been confirmed to start on Sunday for his first game since March 1.
ABOUT THE STARS (32-27-10): To a man, Dallas knows it has an uphill climb if it's going to overcome a six-point deficit in the race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. "We just have to stay focused on what we can control," Fiddler said. "If we can just keep winning games, we can control a little bit of our destiny. Obviously, we need a little bit of luck on our side." Kari Lehtonen has rebounded after a rocky stretch to win his last four decisions and owns a 12-4-2 career mark with a slim 1.99 goals-against average versus St. Louis.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas coach Lindy Ruff told reporters that rookie D John Klingberg is probable to return from a two-game absence due to an upper-body injury.
2. The Blues have killed off 23-of-24 short-handed situations over the last eight contests while the Stars are 20-of-21 in that span.
3. Dallas has just one win in its last five home games and is 13-13-8 at American Airlines Center.