Dallas @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 21, 2020 ) St. Louis 5, Dallas 1

The St. Louis Blues have emerged from their funk with a vengeance, answering a month-long tailspin by ripping off six consecutive victories to regain control of first place atop the Central Division. The surging Blues seek to match their second-longest winning streak of the season when they wrap up a three-game homestand against the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The Blues continued their roll with another impressive victory, erasing a two-goal deficit before knocking off the New York Islanders 3-2 in overtime Thursday. "Every win’s a big two points, no doubt about it," forward Brayden Schenn said after the dramatic comeback. "There’s a lots of games throughout the year where you say that’s a huge two points and this could be one of them." One of the victories during St. Louis' winning streak was a 5-1 rout of Dallas, which fell six points behind the Blues in the division chase after dropping a 4-3 decision at Boston on Thursday. "We know how St. Louis played last time," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "They're a good team and we need to go right after them. Two big points on the line."

TIME: 8 p.m. ET. TV: FS Midwest, FS Southwest

ABOUT THE STARS (37-21-6): Dallas, which had a chance to pull into a first-place tie with St. Louis in their last meeting, has scored seven goals in dropping three of four to the Blues this season while whiffing badly on the power play. The Stars failed on all four man-advantage opportunities in last weekend's loss and have converted on 1 of 10 chances versus St. Louis this season, although they have scored with the extra skater in 10 of their last 13 overall. Tyler Seguin has been held off the scoresheet in the last four versus St. Louis.

ABOUT THE BLUES (38-17-10): Coach Craig Berube has not been happy with the play of his special teams, particularly after surrendering three power-play goals to Chicago on Tuesday and another to the Islanders. “We’ve taken the most penalties in the last eight games in the league, two-minute minors,” Berube said. “That’s something we’ve got to get better at. We can’t keep going to the penalty box as much as we are." Defenseman Colton Parayko scored the game-winner Thursday and a goal and two assists versus Dallas last weekend.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis has limited four of its last six opponents to 20 shots or fewer, including 19 by Dallas.

2. Benn, who scored his 300th goal Thursday, needs one more to reach 20 for the 10th time in 11 seasons.

3. Blues F Jaden Schwartz has a goal and five assists during a four-game point streak.

PREDICTION: Blues 3, Stars 1