Stars @ Blues

Who will WIN this matchup?

Dallas Stars

@ St. Louis Blues

Starting Goalies:

Ben Bishop (DAL): Confirmed

Jordan Binnington (STL): Confirmed

Current odds:

Dallas Stars: (+135)

St. Louis Blues: (-155)

• Ben Bishop has enjoyed a sterling season, one in which he became a Vezina Trophy finalist for the third time in his career and powered the upstart Dallas Stars into the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. Bishop will face his hometown team as well as the one that drafted him in 2005 when the visiting Stars open their series against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.”I’ve been trying not to think about it, obviously trying to worry about this series,” the 32-year-old Bishop said. “It kind of gets a smile.” Bishop provided plenty of smiles in the first round, making 47 saves in the finale to record a 1.90 goals-against average and .945 save percentage as Dallas eliminated Central Division champion Nashville in six games.

• St. Louis also needed six games to dispatch Winnipeg, with Jaden Schwartz notching a natural hat trick in a 3-2 win in Game 6 on Saturday. “It’s nice to get a few days to get some rest and to regroup,” the 26-year-old said. “Rest is important this time of year. It’s nice. We haven’t really been practicing much as the year went on. It’s nice to touch up on a few things.”

• Each member of Dallas’ top line recorded six points in the first round, with Alexander Radulov burning his former team for a club-best four goals while Tyler Seguin added two and captain Jamie Benn had a team high-tying five assists. “It’s going to be a tough challenge, just like Nashville,” the 29-year-old Benn said. “Obviously St. Louis has probably been one of the best teams, if not the best, since January. They’ve been on a great run, so it’s going to be another hard-fought battle.” Defenseman John Klingberg, who also had five assists in the first round, recorded seven points in the season series versus the Blues while Benn had five goals to help the Stars win three of the four games.

• Rookie Jordan Binnington rebounded from a disastrous Game 3 performance against the Jets in which he yielded six goals on 29 shots to surrender the same total over the last three games. Vladimir Tarasenko, who has scored at least 33 goals in five straight seasons, tallied three times against the Stars in 2018-19. Captain Alex Pietrangelo recorded four of his team-leading six assists at home in the first-round series against Winnipeg.

• St. Louis fell to Dallas in both of its home games this season.

• The Stars were a perfect 15-for-15 on the penalty kill in the first round.

• The Blues defeated the Stars in their last postseason meeting, ousting their rivals in seven games during a second-round series in 2016.