The Matchup: Blues vs. Bruins

ST. LOUIS - The Blues will host one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference on Wednesday night when they meet the Boston Bruins at 7 p.m. at Scottrade Center (NBCSN, NBC Sports App, KMOX).
The Blues are expected to meet the Bruins without Vladimir Tarasenko, who also missed Sunday's game against the Blackhawks with an upper-body injury. Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo called Tarasenko "doubtful" for Wednesday.
A limited number of tickets for Wednesday's game are available at the Scottrade Center Box Office and
online at ticketmaster.com
.

THE MATCHUP

BLUES Alex Pietrangelo had four points, including the game-tying goal with 1:22 remaining in regulation, rookie defenseman Vince Dunn also had four points and Patrik Berglund scored the overtime game-winner with 1:29 left in overtime to help the Blues to a 5-4 overtime win in Chicago on Sunday.
It was the second consecutive overtime win for the Blues, who climbed to within one point of the last Wild Card spot in the Western Conference at the time.
"A couple really big come-from-behind wins, but tonight was another level playing back-to-back games," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said. "And you look at what happened in the game, whether it's the disallowed goal, whether it's the goal with under two seconds left (in the second period). And then to battle back and then to give up another one with just over four minutes left, for our guys to continue to fight the way that they did, pretty impressive."
"Obviously you want to win every game in regulation, but right now we just need points, especially two," Pietrangelo said. "... These last two games, [if] you want to get in, you gotta win games like that."
Unfortunately, because of the extremely competitive Western Conference, the Blues were three points out of a playoff spot again on Tuesday afternoon, making Wednesday's matchup with the Bruins even more important.

BRUINS The Bruins are banged up with several significant injuries at the moment. Patrice Bergeron has been out since late February with a fractured foot and has recently begun skating but won't play Wednesday. David Backes is out indefinitely after being cut by a skate on the leg last Saturday, and Zdeno Chara left the March 13 game against Carolina and has been labeled day-to-day by Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. Boston is also without Rick Nash, Charlie McAvoy and Jake DeBrusk.
Despite the rash of injuries, the Bruins remain competitive - shutting out the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday and earning a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday night.
Honey Baker winner Ryan Donato signed an entry-level contract with the Bruins on Sunday and scored a goal and two assists in his NHL debut on Monday. Ryan's dad, Ted Donato, played 796 NHL games - including two with the Blues during the 2001-02 season.
With 71 games played, the Bruins sit second in the Eastern Conference with 99 points - just three behind behind the Lightning (102).
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Bruins won the only matchup between the teams this season, earning a 3-1 victory on Feb. 1 at TD Garden. The teams split the season series in the 2016-17 season.
The Blues are 5-4-0 in their last nine games against against the Bruins overall and 2-2-0 in their last four games against Boston at Scottrade Center.
The Blues are 19-9-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season (.672), which is the third-best winning percentage among Western Conference teams.

HOT VS. BOSTON

Jaden Schwartz has a five-game point streak (two goals, four assists, and points in seven of eight career games against the Bruins (four goals, five assists).
Alexander Steen has eight points in his last 11 games (one goal, seven assists).
Pietrangelo has five points in his last eight games (two goals, three assists).
Jake Allen is 3-1-0 with a 1.86 goals-against average, a .949 save-percentage and one shutout in five career starts against the Bruins.

BLUE NOTES

Jake Allen is 4-1-0 in his last five starts with a 2.79 goals-against average.
Pietrangelo set a new career high with his 15th goal of the season in Sunday's win against the Blackhawks. Pietrangelo also had three assists to record the first four-point game of his NHL career. Pietrangelo has gone back-to-back games with at least three points for the first time in his career and has 11 points in his last five games (four goals, seven assists).
Vince Dunn became the first rookie defenseman since Rik Wilson on Jan. 16, 1982 to record four points in a game in Sunday's win against the Blackhawks. Since the start of the 1988-89 season, Dunn is just the 20th rookie defenseman to record at least four points in a game.
Brayden Schenn has 60 points this season, which leads the Blues and is a new career high.