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Stars hope to improve defensive effort vs. Blues

Oct 28, 2014 - 3:10 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The addition of Jason Spezza has helped out the Dallas offense, but the Stars struggled on the defensive side of things last time out.

They aim to rebound on Tuesday night with a fourth straight victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Acquired from the Ottawa Senators over the offseason, the 31-year-old Spezza has 11 points in eight games this season. He has put together a five-game point streak, with two goals and eight points over that time, and is now centering Dallas' top line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.

Spezza was one of five goal-scorers in Saturday's game versus the New York Islanders, but backup goaltender Anders Lindback allowed six goals on 28 shots faced in a 7-5 defeat.

Dallas yielded six goals in a loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 18, but then gave up just five goals total in consecutive wins before Lindback struggled in Saturday's setback.

"I have to be better than that," Lindback admitted after Dallas saw its five- game point streak (4-0-1) come to an end.

Kari Lehtonen figures to be back in net tonight for the Stars and has solid career numbers in 17 meetings (15 starts) versus the Blues, going 10-4-1 with a 1.86 goals against average and .935 save percentage.

The Stars have won each of their past three meetings with the Blues since losing seven of eight in the series.

St. Louis put the brakes on a two-game slide with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Ryan Reaves and Dmitrij Jaskin scored during a 1:45 span late in the second period to snap a tie game.

Jaden Schwartz also lit the lamp and Brian Elliott posted 22 saves in the win.

"We played real well," said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who had two assists. "It was a tough start ... but we did a fantastic job of overcoming."

Pietrangelo is in line to get some help tonight on the blue line as Carl Gunnarsson is ready to make his season debut. The defenseman, acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs over the offseason, had been recovering from a hip injury suffered last season, but has been medically cleared to play.

"It feels pretty good," Gunnarsson told St. Louis' website. "The last hurdle I would say is to get a game in. That's when you know how it feels. That's going to be different than practice, different than skating around on your own. Just get in there, see how that feels."

The 27-year-old Gunnarsson had spent his first five NHL seasons with the Leafs, posting 86 points in 304 games.

But while Gunnarsson is in line to debut, a nagging bacterial infection that has ripped through the Blues locker room has Ryan Reaves and Vladimir Tarasenko questionable for tonight. Neither was able to practice on Monday due to the illness.

Elliott will get the call for the Blues tonight and is 3-2-0 in his career against the Stars with a 2.28 GAA and .924 save percentage.