Stars at Blues
After entering the Christmas break on a career high-tying seven-game point streak, Vladimir Tarasenko looks to pick up where he left off on Saturday when the St. Louis Blues open a home-and-home series versus the visiting Dallas Stars. Tarasenko recorded his sixth goal and 11th point of the stretch as St. Louis skated to a 2-0 victory over Boston on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Russian, who shares the league lead in tallies (22) with Dallas captain Jamie Benn, also scored in the Blues' 3-0 blanking of the Stars on Dec. 12. Speaking of Benn, he had an assist in Tuesday's 4-0 victory over Chicago to pull into a tie with teammate Tyler Seguin for second place in the league in points with 46, four shy of Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane. Dallas' league-best 26 wins have served as a target for others, but veteran Jason Spezza believes his team is up for the challenge. "It’s all part of the growing process for our team," Spezza told reporters. "I think everybody seems to bring their best to us every night; we’re going to see the best from teams.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Dallas), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE STARS (26-7-2): Patrick Sharp collected a goal and an assist versus his former team, marking the second time in three games he recorded a two-point performance after being held off the scoresheet in each of his previous four outings. Antti Niemi made 20 saves against his former team to improve to 15-5-2 on the season, but the Finn is just 5-3-2 on the road heading into the Gateway City. "(Winning) in these games against our division, it’s huge," Niemi said. "That’s how we want to play every game, but especially these big games."
ABOUT THE BLUES (21-11-4): Jake Allen turned aside all 26 shots he faced versus Dallas earlier this month and made 32 saves against Boston to pull into a tie with Chicago's Corey Crawford for the league lead in shutouts (five). The 25-year-old New Brunswick native has stopped 89-of-94 shots in three career decisions (2-1-0) versus the Stars. Captain David Backes scored and set up a goal in the first encounter with Dallas and has recorded four goals and as many assists in his last nine contests.
OVERTIME
1. Dallas is 5-2-0 versus Central Division foes after posting the worst record within the group last season at 8-14-7.
2. St. Louis has scored seven power-play goals in the last eight games.
3. The Central Division rivals will meet again in Dallas on Sunday.