Edmonton @ Dallas preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 16, 2019 ) Edmonton 2, Dallas 1

The Dallas Stars look to make a move in the Central Division with five of the first six games this month on home ice, starting with a visit from the offensively gifted Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. The Stars closed out a three-game road trip with a 4-3 loss at NHL-best Boston on Thursday before suffering a 4-3 shootout setback at Central-leading St. Louis two days later, and sit seven points behind the Blues with one fewer game played.

“You watch the standings a little bit,” Dallas center Tyler Seguin told reporters after scoring for the third time in four games Saturday. “(Second-place) Colorado’s a good team, St. Louis is taking off, so we’re just trying to stay in the mix and still hunt down first place.” Seguin had a goal in each of the previous two meetings and added a pair of assists as the teams split their first two matchups this season - both winning on the road - and Edmonton needs every point it can get as the Oilers sit at the top of four teams separated by six points between second and fifth place in the Pacific Division. Edmonton boasts points in nine of its last 12 games (7-3-2) after posting five goals in a span of 5:13 in the third period to bust open a tight game and go on to hammer Nashville 8-3 on Monday night. The league’s leading scorer Leon Draisaitl scored a career-high four goals and added an assist Monday, boosting his season total to 107 points, while fellow All-Star Connor McDavid scored once and set up four others to help Edmonton pull within two points of Vegas for first place in the Pacific.

TIME: 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: FS Southwest, Sportsnet West

ABOUT THE OILERS (35-23-8): Draisaitl is averaging two points and boasts 14 goals over the last 12 games while McDavid registered 17 of 94 points in his last nine contests for Edmonton, which leads the league in power-play percentage (29.7). Forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has also been wielding a hot stick with five goals along with 14 assists over the past dozen games after setting up three tallies Monday and rookie Kailer Yamamoto added two points after missing the previous four contests (ankle). Mike Smith made 27 saves at Nashville, which could give Tuesday’s start to Mikko Koskinen (16-13-2, .911 save percentage).

ABOUT THE STARS (37-21-7): Seguin is riding a four-game point streak and reached a team-high 50 on Saturday - 12 more than the closest pursuer as captain Jamie Benn boasts at least one in his last five contests. Rookie Denis Gurianov continues to make a strong case to join in the Calder Trophy discussion with goals in three straight games that have boosted his team-best total to 20, one ahead of Benn (300 career). Ben Bishop (21-14-4, .921 SP) suffered the loss in each of his last two starts, but has had success against Edmonton in his career (7-3-1, .931 SP) despite losing his only decision this season.

OVERTIME

1. Edmonton D Darnell Nurse ended a six-game drought Monday by recording three assists.

2. Dallas D Stephen Johns has missed three straight games with an upper-body injury, but could return Tuesday.

3. Oilers F Tyler Ennis has a goal and two assists to go along with a plus-2 rating in four games since being acquired from Ottawa.

PREDICTION: Stars 4, Oilers 3