Opponents generally know that one of the biggest keys to beating the St. Louis Blues is to find a way to shut down their leading scorer, right winger Vladimir Tarasenko.
Teams have more than Tarasenko to worry about now, however, because of the way the combination of left winger Jaden Schwartz, center Paul Stastny and right winger David Perron are playing since being placed on a line together.
Shutting down that line will be the challenge for the Dallas Stars when they visit the Blues on Monday night.
In his last seven games, Perron owns two goals and eight assists. Schwartz, in his last six games, scored five goals and assisted on three more. Stastny adds two goals and two assists in his last five games.
The three forwards combined for all three of the Blues' goals in regulation on Saturday night before Perron scored the only goal in the shootout in a 4-3 win over Minnesota.
Perron recorded at least one point in his last seven games, the longest active streak in the NHL. He is second to Tarasenko in scoring for the Blues with six goals and nine assists this season.
"It's going good," Schwartz said. "We're getting chances. Both guys (Stastny and Perron) are smart players, can make plays in tight areas, working hard for each other. Stas is doing a great job on faceoffs, he's taking a lot of (defensive) zone draws, winning a lot of faceoffs, doing a lot of little things.
"We haven't been together for certain times in a game, or we'll switch wingers, but we're getting some good reads off Perron."
The play of the three forwards helped the Blues go 9-1-2 at home this season, including wins in their last four games.
"If you look at the way he (Schwartz) is scoring, and Paul too, I think both of them, they're creating a lot of offense by going around the net," said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. "I think when we're getting the puck there and we're getting bodies in front, you have guys with that type of vision, they're going to find the puck like that."
Trying to find the right combination of his forwards is the challenge for Stars' coach Lindy Ruff, who shuffles Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza and Patrick Sharp into different spots in the lineup.
"Right now, we just aren't quite clicking to put a game away," Ruff said. "It's going to start with the Seguins, the Benns, Spezza, Sharp, those guys. Until our top guys can push through and make a difference, our games are going to be a lot tighter and we re going to be a little up and down."
The Stars scored just one or two goals in four of their last six games. They are coming off a 2-1 win at home over Vancouver as they begin a four-game road trip.
Dallas made one roster move on Sunday, recalling defenseman Stephen Johns from the Texas Stars of the AHL. Johns played in 16 games with the Stars earlier this season before being sent to the minors.
Blues • The Blues lost at Dallas 6-2 on Nov. 3, which was actually a step up from a 5-0 loss to the Rangers two days before. The Blues won all three regular-season games at home against the Stars last season. … Jake Allen, who will be in goal, is 7-0-2 at home this season. Since the start of last season, he has a 1.83 GAA at home and a .931 save percentage; both are third best in the league.
Stars • Dallas has alternated wins and losses over its past six games (it’s coming off a win) and has scored more than two goals in just one of them. The Stars have allowed 72 goals this season, an average of 3.3 per game, the second most in the league. They’re 3-5-3 on the road, where their penalty killnig rate is just 68.4 percent. Tyler Seguin leads the team in scoring with seven goals and 15 assists.
Injuries • Blues — F Alexander Steen (upper body) and D Joel Edmundson (upper body), out. Stars — D Johnny Oduya (lower body), F Jiri Hudler (illness), F Alex Hemsky (hip) and F Mattias Janmark (knee), out.
Matchup
The Blues will look to avenge their first meeting of the season against the Stars, when they fell 6-2 at American Airlines Center. In the regular season series, the Blues have won two of the last three and six of the last eight meetings with the Stars, including three consecutive wins at Scottrade Center. After back-to-back losses in division play, the Blues have won two straight vs. Central Division foes, including Nashville (Nov. 19) and Minnesota (Nov. 26). The Blues will look to continue their success at Scottrade Center, where they have won four straight and earned points in each of their last nine (7-0-2). The Blues' last five-game home win streak came from Dec. 19, 2013 to Jan. 14, 2014.
What to Watch
Jake Allen extended his home win streak to a career-best four games on Saturday after stopping 28 Minnesota shots in regulation and overtime as well as all four of their shootout attempts. Paul Stastny is always one to watch in this series. Since entering the League in 2006-07, he ranks seventh overall in career regular season points against the Stars with 40 (18 goals, 22 assists). And, can David Perron extend his point streak? It is currently the longest active in the NHL at seven games (two goals, eight assists).
Milestones
Jay Bouwmeester - 3 shy of 300 career assists
Vladimir Tarasenko - 4 shy of 100 career PIM
Paul Stastny - 2 shy of 700 career games
Jori Lehtera - 6 shy of 100 career PIM
Kyle Brodziak - 3 shy of 100 games as a Blue / 7 shy of 400 career PIM
Kevin Shattenkirk - 3 shy of 200 career assists
Quick Hits
The Blues have points in nine straight home games for the first time since an equal stretch from Dec. 29, 2014 - Feb. 3, 2015
Since losing to Columbus on Nov. 12, the Blues lead the NHL with a plus-7 third period goal differential
David Perron's second assist on Saturday vs. Minnesota gave him 200 assists for his career
With eight goals in 18 games thus far, Jaden Schwartz has already equaled his total from last season, when he dressed in 33 games
This day in history:
1979 Islanders Billy Smith becomes for goaltender in NHL history credited with a goal.
1995 Tony Twist breaks Rob Ray's orbital bone in fight vs Sabres.
1996 Pavol Demitra traded to Blues for Christer Olsson.
1998 Geoff Courtnall suffers concussion from sucker punch by Sharks Owen Nolan which helped lead to end of Courtnall's career.
1999 Al MacInnis broke the finger of Blackhawks Thibault as puck tore through his glove. In same game, MacInnised tied Blues career record for goals by a Defenseman.
