Coyotes at Blues preview

COYOTES (34-30-5) at BLUES (36-25-7)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-A, NHL.TV

Arizona, which is one point behind the Minnesota Wild, is coming off a 7-1 loss at the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, but they are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games, 11-4-0 in their past 15 and have allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of those 15 games.
Backup goalie Calvin Pickard was scheduled to start, but that was before Darcy Kuemper was pulled early in the second period against Chicago after allowing four goals on 16 shots. Kuemper will start his 11th consecutive game.
The Blues are third in the Central Division. They trail the Nashville Predators by four points for second place and are five points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets. St. Louis is four points ahead of the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild card.
Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington will start for the Blues. He is 12-2-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average .931 save percentage and four shutouts in his past 14 starts but has allowed seven goals his past two (1-1-0).

Players to watch

Coyotes forward Clayton Keller has seven points (one goal, six assists) in seven games against the Blues.
Blues forward Brayden Schenn has two goals and three assists during in a three-game point streak. He has 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past eight games.

They said it

"I think we have to flush this game down, honestly. But like I told the guys, it's going to get harder. You think it's hard now, it's going to get harder and harder. ... We've done a nice job of bouncing back after these types of losses." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet after the 7-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks
"They're going to be a good team tonight. They're going to come out with urgency, and we need to match that urgency early on in the game." -- Blues coach Craig Berube on Arizona

Coyotes projected lineup

Richard Panik -- Christian Dvorak -- Clayton Keller
Alex Galchenyuk -- Nick Cousins -- Christian Fischer
Michael Grabner -- Brad Richardson -- Vinnie Hinostroza
Lawson Crouse -- Mario Kempe -- Josh Archibald
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Niklas Hjalmarsson
Jakob Chychrun -- Alex Goligoski
Jordan Oesterle -- Jason Demers
Darcy Kuemper
Calvin Pickard
Scratched:Kevin Connauton, Ilya Lyubushkin, Conor Garland
Injured:Derek Stepan (lower body), Antti Raanta (lower body), Nick Schmaltz (lower body), Kyle Capobianco (lower body)

Blues projected lineup

Brayden Schenn -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Robert Thomas
Jaden Schwartz -- Tyler Bozak -- Pat Maroon
Zach Sanford -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Alexander Steen
Mackenzie MacEachern -- Ivan Barbashev -- Sammy Blais
Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched:Michael Del Zotto, Robby Fabbri
Injured:Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body), David Perron (upper body), Carl Gunnarsson (upper body)

Status report

The Coyotes didn't hold a morning skate. ... Tarasenko, the Blues' leading goal-scorer, is expected to miss at least the next four games. Maroon will play after leaving practice Monday as a precaution when Parayko's skate stepped on his right ankle.

Stat pack

Dvorak has two goals and two assists during a three-game point streak. ... The Blues are 15-3-2 in their past 20 games but have scored two goals or fewer in seven of their past nine.