Predators at Stars
The Dallas Stars are locked in a fierce battle with St. Louis for first place in the Central Division and the top seed in the Western Conference with six games remaining. Even in points with the Blues for the top spot in the Central, the Stars go for their fifth win in six games when they host the division-rival Nashville Predators on Tuesday.
Dallas' last four victories have come against playoff contenders, including wins over Chicago and San Jose on its just-concluded three-game road trip. Although the Stars hold the tiebreaker over St. Louis, Tuesday's contest could be a potential playoff preview with Nashville holding down the first wild card in the West. The Predators squandered a chance to clinch a postseason berth, falling behind by three goals in the first period of a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Monday. It snapped a three-game winning streak for Nashville, which suffered its first regulation home defeat in 11 games (7-1-3) to remain four points behind the third-place Blackhawks in the Central.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), FSN Southwest (Dallas)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (39-24-13): Roman Josi scored his 13th goal Monday to give him 10 points in his last eight games and 57 on the season to break the franchise record for a defenseman held by captain Shea Weber. "Josi is probably going to keep breaking my points record, and you will have to keep asking me about it year after year," said Weber, who established the previous mark during the 2013-14 season. Craig Smith tallied for the second game in a row to reach the 20-goal plateau for the third consecutive season.
ABOUT THE STARS (45-22-9): Defenseman Kris Russell returned to practice Monday and is expected back in the lineup after sitting out the last three games, but forward Brett Ritchie missed practice due to a lower-body injury. Antti Niemi snapped out of an ugly funk with a 34-save performance in Saturday's 4-2 victory over San Jose to jump back in the mix with Kari Lehtonen for the starting job in the playoffs. "I like the fact that each of them has 20 wins," coach Lindy Ruff said of his goaltending tandem. "To me, the two-man duo has done a good job for us."
OVERTIME
1. The Stars have snuffed out 34-of-35 short-handed situations over their last 11 games.
2. Predators G Pekka Rinne, who was yanked after allowing three goals on 10 shots Monday, is 11-6-2 with a 2.77 goals-against average versus Dallas.
3. Stars rookie C Mattias Janmark scored twice versus the Sharks in his return from a six-game injury absence.