Preview: Blues vs. Stars

When: Saturday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. CT
Where: Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO
Watch: Bally Sports, Bally Sports App
Listen: 101 ESPN, Blues App
Tickets: Online at Ticketmaster.com

TEAM SNAPSHOTS

BLUES The St. Louis Blues snapped a four-game losing streak Thursday night, beating the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at Enterprise Center. It was interim head coach Drew Bannister's first game behind the Blues bench and his first coaching win at the NHL level.

"It was a great game by everyone. Everyone pulled their weight from start to finish," said Robert Thomas after his three-point night. "The biggest thing is we had each other's backs out there."

Bannister's first game lineup included a reunion of Pavel Buchnevich, Thomas and Jordan Kyrou on the top forward line. The trio combined for six points, while Kyrou and Thomas each posted a plus-3 rating.

Jordan Binnington delivered another strong home-ice performance, stopping 32 out of 34 Ottawa shots for his sixth win at Enterprise Center. Mathieu Joseph and Dominik Kubalik scored for the Senators, though Brady Tkachuk and Vladimir Tarasenko were left scoreless.

The Blues hope to keep the momentum going when they wrap up a three-game homestand on Saturday against the division-rival Dallas Stars. A two-game trip to face the Lightning and the Panthers awaits them afterwards, before three more games at Enterprise Center.

They'll host the Stars with a record of 14-14-1, worth 29 points and fifth in the Central as of Friday afternoon.

STARS The Dallas Stars, who started the season with a blistering 11-3-1 record, have slowed their pace in the last few weeks. After sharing No. 3 in the NHL standings on Nov. 14, the Stars are 7-5-2 in their last 14 games to rank No. 20 over that span. Defense has been the main issue for the Stars in this stretch, their 3.69 goals allowed per game since Nov. 14 trails only Anaheim and St. Louis at the bottom of the board.

Dallas has won two out of their last three games heading into Saturday's showdown at Enterprise Center, beginning with a shootout win over the Capitals last week. The Stars were down 3-1 midway through the second period, but were able to hang around with Washington and tie the score late in the third with a Roope Hintz goal.

After the shootout win, the Stars proceeded to lose 6-1 to the Golden Knights at home. Vegas needed only 27 shots on Jake Oettinger to run away with the game. Dallas rebounded, however, with a 6-3 win over Detroit driven by three points from Miro Heiskanen.

Dallas opened a back-to-back on Friday night against Ottawa, facing each of the Blues' last two opponents before heading up to St. Louis on Saturday. Down 4-2 in the second period, a shorthanded goal from Thomas Harley was the first of three unanswered Dallas goals, pulling away for a 5-4 win.

They begin their weekend of games with a record of 17-8-3, worth 37 points and second in the Central Division.

HEAD TO HEAD The Blues battled the Stars to a shootout on Opening Night, giving them an 0-0-1 record on the season. The Stars quickly come back to Enteprise Center on Dec. 27, though the season series doesn't conclude until the final game of the year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

BLUES Robert Thomas, who posted his second three-point game of the season on Thursday against Ottawa. Thomas continues to knock on the door of his first career hat trick, scoring two goals for the second time in the last four games.

STARS Joe Pavelski, sharing the Stars lead with 27 points this season at the age of 39 and as the second-oldest player in the NHL. Pavelski has five points in his last six games, including three on Dec. 2 against the Lightning.

BLUE NOTES

• Brandon Saad scored his 50th goal as a Blue on Thursday night against Ottawa. Saad now has 50 goals and 49 assists as a Blue, and if his next point is an assist he will become just the 2nd player in franchise history (Vladimir Tarasenko, 2014) to record his first 100 points as a Blue with exactly 50 goals and 50 assists
• The Blues are 13-1-0 when scoring first this season, which shares the third most wins in the NHL
• The Blues are 8-5-0 at home this season, their 8 home wins and 3.54 goals per game sharing 9th in the League
• Robert Thomas leads the Blues with 30 points in 29 games this season, and his 25 since Nov. 1 shares ninth in the League
• Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich each have 47 multi-point games since the start of the 2021-22 season (Buchnevich's arrival in St. Louis), sharing the team lead