The Dallas Stars have been struggling to regain traction since before the holiday break.
After starting the season 25-7-5, they have gone 4-7-4. The Stars have not won consecutive games since Dec. 19 and 21.
They will try to finally achieve that feat Tuesday night when they visit the St. Louis Blues. The Stars edged the Blues 3-2 in their previous game, last Friday in Dallas.
“I thought we were a little tight in the third (period),” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “We could have handled that a little bit better. When you’re not winning games, sometimes you grip it a little bit. I think we did that a little bit in the third on simple plays; we had some turnovers.
“But I think, overall, the last three games have been a way better step in the right direction and some of the best games this team has played all year.”
The Stars routed the Boston Bruins 6-2 on Jan. 20, then fell 1-0 to the Blue Jackets in Columbus two nights later. That was their fourth loss in five games.
In those defeats, Dallas scored three goals. The Stars were buoyed by Jason Robertson’s late goal to defeat the Blues.
“The past couple of weeks, we haven’t been able to just get one at the end of games or just find a way to win close games,” Robertson said. “So, that feels good.”
Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen returned from illness to face the Blues, but he was ineffective. He should be closer to full strength for this rematch.
“Rants has been sick for four days, and I give him a lot of credit,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said after Friday’s victory. “He’s down weight, he didn’t feel great this morning, and I didn’t think he was playing. But he came and said, ‘I’m going to play.'”
While the Stars had three days to rest and prepare for this rematch, the Blues suffered a 5-4 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings at home Saturday night.
“Back-to-backs are always tough, especially with some travel,” Blues winger Jordan Kyrou said after the loss. “I thought we battled hard (Saturday), especially in the second (period) of that game. We kept bringing it back and I thought we had a good game.”
Kyrou scored twice against the Kings, giving him three goals and four assists in his last seven games.
Saturday’s setback extended the Blues’ winless streak to four games (0-3-1) and prompted them to get back to work on puck management and coverage in their own zone.
“There’s some things defensively that we need to clean up again,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “You can’t be happy any time you give up four goals.”
The Blues have been playing without top center Robert Thomas and key forwards Dylan Holloway and Pius Suter due to injuries. Suter and Holloway both skated during Monday’s practice.
Rookie Dalibor Dvorsky has picked up some of that slack with goals against the Stars and Kings. He has three goals and an assist in his last six games.
“It’s always about the whole line, but yeah, I’m just trying to play with confidence every time I’m out there,” Dvorsky said.
