Hurricanes at Blues preview

HURRICANES (18-12-7) at BLUES (23-15-2)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-CR, NHL.TV

Backup goalie Scott Darling will start for Carolina. He last played on Dec. 19, allowing eight goals on 36 shots. The Hurricanes, which defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 on Friday, have allowed 12 goals in their past seven wins.
Carter Hutton likely will start for the Blues, who have lost five of six and seven of the past nine games, following a 4-2 loss at the Dallas Stars on Friday.
Each team is playing its third game in four days.

Players to watch

Hurricanes right wing Sebastian Aho has four goals during a three-game scoring streak and has scored the game-winning goal in consecutive games.
Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first 5-on-5 goal on Friday since Nov. 21 (18 games) and has four goals in his past 18 games.

They said it

"I think we have good confidence right now. We just have to keep it going." -- Hurricanes right wing Sebastian Aho
"It's just right now, disappointing losing. It's not good enough." -- Blues left wing Alexander Steen

Hurricanes projected lineup

Sebastian Aho -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen
Jeff Skinner -- Victor Rask -- Elias Lindholm
Brock McGinn -- Derek Ryan -- Justin Williams
Joakim Nordstrom -- Lucas Wallmark -- Phillip Di Giuseppe
Jaccob Slavin -- Brett Pesce
Klas Dahlbeck -- Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Scott Darling
Cam Ward
Scratched: Josh Jooris, Haydn Fleury
Injured: Lee Stempniak (lower body), Marcus Kruger (undisclosed)

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Paul Stastny -- Tage Thompson
Ivan Barbashev -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Sobotka -- Patrik Berglund -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Carter Hutton
Jake Allen
Scratched:Jay Bouwmeester, Oskar Sundqvist, Magnus Paajarvi
Injured:Jaden Schwartz (ankle), Sammy Blais (lower body), Zach Sanford (shoulder)

Status report

The Hurricanes and Blues did not have morning skates. ... Bouwmeester could return after missing the past nine games with a lower-body injury; he likely would replace Gunnarsson or Bortuzzo. The Blues assigned defenseman Jordan Schmaltz to San Antonio of the American Hockey League to make room for Bouwmeester.

Stat pack

The Blues won the only other game between the teams, 2-1 in Carolina on Oct. 27. ... Skinner has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in his past nine games and 12 points (nine goals, three assists) in 11 games against St. Louis. ... The Blues have scored two goals or fewer in eight of the past nine games. ... Schenn has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past nine games after seven points (six goals, one assist) in his previous four games.