Stars GameDay: Central foes line up for first of five meetings

Predators at Stars

7:30 p.m. Thursday, American Airlines Center, Dallas

TV: FSSW Radio: KTCK/1310 AM and 96.7 FM

Records: Predators 18-12-7, 43 points; Stars: 27-8-3, 57 pts.

About the Predators: They won three of four on a recent homestand before losing in overtime at St. Louis on Tuesday, their third consecutive road loss to a Central Division team. This will be the first of five meetings against Dallas. Former Stars James Neal and Mike Ribeiro each have 24 points this season while Neal leads the team with 15 goals. Goalie Pekka Rinne is 15-10-6 with a 2.38 goals-against average. He’s allowed 11 total goals in the past five games.

About the Stars: They have the NHL’s most points (57) and share the league lead in wins (27) with Washington despite a 6-3 beating Tuesday in Columbus by the last-place Blue Jackets. Center Radek Faksa has been recalled from the Texas Stars. Faksa has two points in 14 games with the Stars this season. Jamie Benn reached 50 points in the Stars’ 38th game, making him the franchise’s fastest to that mark since Dino Ciccarelli with the North Stars in 1987-88.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Stars GameDay: Central foes line up for first of five meetings."