Sabres at Blues preview

SABRES (21-11-5) at BLUES (14-16-4)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, MSG-B, NHL.TV

The center was acquired by the Blues in a trade with the Sabres for forwards Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka and Tage Thompson, a conditional first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2021 draft on July 1. O'Reilly spent three seasons with Buffalo.
St. Louis is 4-2-0 in its past six games.
Goalie Carter Hutton will start for Buffalo and face the Blues for the first time since signing a three-year, $8.25 million contract (average annual value $2.75 million) on July 1 after spending the previous two seasons with St. Louis.
The Sabres are 4-5-3 in their past 11 games following a 10-game winning streak.

Players to watch

Sabres forward Sam Reinhart has 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) in his past 13 games, including points in 12 of 13.
Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko has two goals in his past three games after having no points in his previous seven games.

They said it

"Under the circumstances, we'd like to be at home, but unfortunately, we have to start on the road after the Christmas break. … It's a situation where we're going to have to be ready." -- Sabres coach Phil Housley
"It's always weird. Having a lot of good buddies over there, it's weird playing against them, but at the end of the day, it's two points that we need. … We've got to be the team that's more disciplined and I'm excited for it." -- Blues center Ryan O'Reilly on facing the Sabres

Sabres projected lineup

Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart
Remi Elie -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Kyle Okposo
Conor Sheary -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Evan Rodrigues
Zemgus Girgensons -- Johan Larsson -- Tage Thompson
Lawrence Pilut -- Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -- Zach Bogosian
Rasmus Dahlin -- Jake McCabe
Carter Hutton
Linus Ullmark
Scratched: Matt Hunwick
Injured: Jason Pominville (undisclosed), Nathan Beaulieu (upper body), Casey Nelson (upper body), Scott Wilson (ankle)

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Pat Maroon -- Tyler Bozak -- Robert Thomas
Jordan Nolan -- Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Jay Bouwmeester -- Robert Bortuzzo
Vince Dunn -- Chris Butler
Jake Allen
Jordan Binnington
Scratched:Zach Sanford, Jordan Schmaltz
Injured:Alex Pietrangelo (hand/wrist), Carl Gunnarsson (wrist), Robby Fabbri (shoulder)

Status report

Pominville is day to day; Buffalo's injured players did not make the one-game trip. … Blues coach Craig Berube said Fabbri is healthy enough to play, but he wanted to keep the same lineup together. ... Pietrangelo and Gunnarsson are close to returning but will not play.

Stat pack

Eichel has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in his past nine games. ... Skinner has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past nine games. ... Schenn has four assists in his past three games.