The last time the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars met on the ice was in Game 7 of their second-round playoff series last spring.
The Blues left American Airlines Center with a 6-1 victory and their first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2001.
Dallas, which was the West's top seed, was left to ponder what could have been in its first trip to the second round since 2008.
These teams will renew their Central Division rivalry on Thursday night in downtown Dallas, but neither club is fixated on what happened just over six months ago. Instead, the Blues and Stars are focused on simply winning a game.
St. Louis (5-3-2) lost 5-0 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Aside from a 6-4 win at Calgary on Oct. 22, the Blues have scored just five goals over the last 366:40, a sure sign they have deviated from their formula for recent success.
"We got to kind of stop the bleeding and get back to what works," Blues forward Paul Stastny said after the loss in New York. "And we know what works for us, it's playing that grind game, that puck-possession game. When we do that, we're supporting each other, we're all playing together and when we're not, we're trying to make too many fancy plays and we get caught on our heels and put too much pressure on our goalies to bail us out."
The Blues might be without captain Alex Pietrangelo, who sustained a lower-body injury against the Rangers. Pietrangelo did not skate on Wednesday morning but St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said after practice that Pietrangelo would be further evaluated at morning skate on Thursday in Dallas.
St. Louis has lost three of its last four games and the Blues are 2-2-1 on the road this season.
Dallas (3-4-2), on the other hand, heads into this contest on a three-game winless streak (0-2-1) after a 3-2 overtime loss at Columbus on Tuesday. The Stars started their three-game road trip with a 4-1 loss at Winnipeg last Thursday followed by a 4-0 loss at Minnesota two days later.
But despite seeing his team winless since a 3-2 home win against Winnipeg last Tuesday, Stars coach Lindy Ruff feels Dallas has been playing well recently, final scores notwithstanding.
"I think we're looking at a game (against St. Louis) where they're going to be an extremely desperate team. They lost a big one last night (Tuesday) and we've lost three in a row now," Ruff said. "I think our last two games are really close to where we need to be. I thought we beat ourselves at the end (against Columbus), we didn't do that last year."
Ruff said any lingering ill will or bad taste from that seven-game playoff defeat to the Blues last spring is long gone.
Gritty Stars forward Antoine Roussel disagrees, however.
"Well, I'm pretty excited. It's been a long summer," Roussel said. "They stuck it to us last year, we're still pretty (angry) about that. They are a good team. It's going to be a battle. We need those points more than they do."
Ruff might be happy from a big-picture standpoint about how the Stars are playing right now, but there is one area he knows has to be a lot better: goaltending.
Dallas' veteran Finnish tandem of Kari Lehtonen (1-3-1, .900 save percentage, 2.65 GAA) and Antti Niemi (2-1-1, .893, 3.65) have both endured their share of struggles.
But Ruff knows that if the Stars are to again be a factor in the West, Lehtonen and Niemi both need to step up their game and start making big saves.
"We need our goaltending to be better. Those two guys know they need to be better," Ruff said.
Blues • The Blues are in Dallas for the first of four meetings against the Stars this season. ... Thursday will be the first time the teams have seen each other since the Blues’ seven-game win over Dallas in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. ... Jake Allen will get the start in net for the Blues, his ninth in 11 games. ... Alex Pietrangelo is questionable for the game after suffering a lower-body injury Tuesday.
Stars • Dallas enters Thursday’s matchup looking to snap a three-game winless skid in which it has gone 0-2-1. ... The Stars led the NHL with 3.23 goals per game in the regular season a year ago. This season, they rank No. 27th in the league with 2.22 per game, just ahead of the No. 28 Blues (2.20). ... Goaltending was an issue for the Stars in last year’s playoffs and it has been again. Kari Lehtonen is 1-3-1 with a .900 save percentage and Antti Niemi is 2-1-1 with an .893.
Injuries • Blues — D Alex Pietrangelo (lower-body) questionable; D Robert Bortuzzo (lower-body), out. Stars — RW Ales Hemsky (hip), LW Patrick Sharp (concussion), C Mattias Janmark (knee) and C Cody Eakin (knee), out.
Blues team scope
St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will play after he had his leg tangled up with New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller on Tuesday and missing practice Wednesday. "Good to go. Little bit of a scare," Pietrangelo said. "But I got a little bit of treatment yesterday and it worked." The Blues have won seven of their past nine games at American Airlines Center, including three in the Western Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. "This was a very intimidating building when I first came to St. Louis, players would make comment that they felt like we were skating uphill," coach Kevin Hitchcock said. "There isn't the intimidation factor anymore. We figured out a way to play them." Goalie Jake Allen will start after allowing four goals on 20 shots before being pulled for Carter Hutton during a 5-0 loss to the Rangers.
Stars team scope
Dallas Stars forward Jiri Hudler won't play because of an illness; coach Lindy Ruff said they are waiting on the test results. Hudler previously missed five games with an illness until returning to the lineup on Oct. 29. The Stars face the Blues for the first time since losing Game 7 of the second round. "They got in the way of what we were trying to do last year," captain Jamie Benn said. "What better way to start the first meeting between us this year with us getting in their way." The Stars have scored three goals during a three-game losing streak, including a 3-2 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. "I think the last two games have been more of the game we want to play," Benn said. "It was unfortunate how it ended, but I think we are working in the right direction." Goalie Antti Niemi will start after making 25 saves against Columbus.
Blues projected lineup
Alexander Steen -- Patrik Berglund -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Jori Lehtera -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri -- Paul Stastny -- Nail Yakupov
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Ty Rattie, Brad Hunt, Dimitri Jaskin
Injured: Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Jason Spezza
Lauri Korpikoski -- Devin Shore -- Brett Ritchie
Curtis McKenzie -- Gemel Smith -- Adam Cracknell
Johnny Oduya -- Stephen Johns
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Jordie Benn
Antti Niemi
Kari Lehtonen
Scratched: Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak
Injured: Patrick Sharp (concussion), Mattias Janmark (knee), Cody Eakin (knee), Ales Hemsky (groin), Jiri Hudler (illness)
Status report
McKenzie is back in the lineup for the Stars after being scratched against the Blue Jackets. … Upshall enters the Blues' lineup after sitting the past two games.
Who's hot
Seguin has three goals in his past four games. … Stastny has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five games against the Stars.
This day in history:
1968: Camille Henry scored 1st hat trick in Blues franchise history.
1987: Mark McGwire wins AL Rookie of the Year.
2003: Grant Fuhr inducted into Hockey Hall of Fame.
2007: David Perron scored his 1st NHL goal.