The Matchup: Blues vs. Sharks

So there's a little bit of bad news, some good news and some really great news to report…
The Bad: The Los Angeles Kings bumped the Blues out of a Wild Card spot with a 3-0 win against the Calgary Flames on Monday night.
The Good: The Blues are just two points behind the Kings with two games in hand. Plus, the Vegas Golden Knights dealt the Colorado Avalanche a 4-1 loss on Monday.
The Great: If the Blues can beat the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, they will move ahead of Colorado AND Los Angeles to take the top Wild Card spot in the West.

THE MATCHUP

BLUES A 33-save effort from Jake Allen helped the Blues snap a 10-game winning streak for the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday at Nationwide Arena. Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the Blues, who won their fifth straight game - their longest winning streak of the season.
Jaden Schwartz extended his point streak to five games with an assist on Tarasenko's game-winning goal. Schwartz has two goals and four assists during the Blues' win streak.
"You don't beat a team like that in their building on back-to-back nights unless you have a lot of really good performances," Blues Head Coach Mike Yeo said after the game. "It's complete desperation on our part, like the season's on the line, so the challenge for us is to make sure that doesn't change."
The Blues had a playoff spot on Monday afternoon but woke up Tuesday without one thanks to the Kings' victory. A win against the Sharks would fix that.

SHARKS The Sharks are the NHL's hottest team and will carry an eight-game winning streak into Tuesday's matchup with the Blues.
Kevin Labanc scored the game-deciding goal for the Sharks in a 4-3 shootout victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night. The Sharks had a 3-2 lead late in the third period before Patrick Sharp forced overtime with 2:22 remaining in regulation.
The Sharks currently sit six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS The Blues have lost twice to the Sharks this season, the most recent coming in a 2-0 loss at SAP Center on March 8, a game in which Carter Hutton was scheduled to start but didn't due to a neck injury. Hutton will return to the lineup Tuesday but is expected to serve as the backup to Allen.
Since the loss on March 8, the Blues have won seven of their last eight games.
The Blues are 11-9-1 against Pacific Division teams this season, while the Sharks are 7-6-3 against the Central Division.

HOT VS. SAN JOSE

• Schwartz has 13 points in his last 11 games (four goals, nine assists)
  - Steen has 10 points in his last 10 games (three goals, seven assists)
  - Tarasenko has 10 points in his last 10 games (four goals, six assists)
  - Alex Pietrangelo has 18 points in 24 career games (two goals, 16 assists)
  - Jake Allen is 3-2-1 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .930 save-percentage in six career starts against the Sharks.

BLUE NOTES

• The Blues are 33-6-2 when scoring the first goal and 31-0-2 when leading after the second period this season.
  - Allen is 7-1-0 with a 2.12 goals-against average and a .919 save-percentage in his last eight starts. Allen was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Monday after leading the Blues to three consecutive victories last week.
  - The Blues are 7-2-1 (.750) in March.