St. Louis starts playoff series against Dallas

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Dallas Stars (43-32-7, fourth in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. St. Louis Blues (45-28-9, third in the Central Division during the regular season)

St. Louis; Thursday, 9:30 p.m. EDT

WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: St. Louis hosts series opener

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Blues host the Dallas Stars to begin the Western Conference second round. The teams meet Thursday for the fifth time this season. St. Louis went 3-1 against St. Louis during the regular season.

The Blues are 12-9-5 against the rest of their division. St. Louis has given up 43 power-play goals, killing 81.5 percent of opponent chances.

The Stars are 14-10-2 against the rest of their division. Dallas has scored 45 power-play goals, converting on 21 percent of chances.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ryan O'Reilly leads the Blues with 77 total points, scoring 28 goals and adding 49 assists. Vladimir Tarasenko has five goals and four assists over the last 10 games for St. Louis.

Tyler Seguin leads the Stars with 47 total assists and has recorded 80 points. Alexander Radulov has seven goals and six assists over the last 10 games for Dallas.

DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Stars: Averaging three goals, 4.3 assists, 3.2 penalties and 6.3 penalty minutes while giving up two goals per game with a .945 save percentage.

Blues: Averaging 2.7 goals, 4.8 assists, 2.5 penalties and 5.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.7 goals per game with a .908 save percentage.

Blues Injuries: Sammy Blais: out (undisclosed), Robert Bortuzzo: day to day (undisclosed).

Stars Injuries: Mattias Janmark: day to day (undisclosed).