Devils at Blues preview

DEVILS (22-26-10) at BLUES (32-17-10)
8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-MW, MSG+, NHL.TV

The Blues, 0-3-2 in their past five games and 2-7-3 in their past 12, are tied with the Dallas Stars for first place in the Central Division and Western Conference, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche.
St. Louis, which has won 11 straight games against New Jersey, will dress the same lineup it did in a 2-1 loss at the Nashville Predators but will juggle its forward lines.
The Devils are 5-2-3 in their past 10 games after going 2-5-1 in their previous eight games. Goalie Louis Domingue will start and forward Jesper Bratt will be a healthy scratch.

Players to watch

Devils forward Kyle Palmieri has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in his past 10 games after missing the previous four games with a lower-body injury.
Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has nine points (four goals, five assists) in nine games against New Jersey.

They said it

"It's a tough decision to take him out. With [Bratt], it's a lot about consistency. [He] does a lot of good stuff; it's not like his game was horrible, but you want to see a bit more consistency. We know what he's capable of doing. It's just a quick reset. He'll be back in." -- Devils coach Alain Nasreddine on forward Jesper Bratt
"It's not drastic. If you look at our 5-on-5 scoring lately over time, it's kind of dried up with certain guys. Sometimes you need a change. That's all." -- Blues coach Craig Berube on switching St. Louis' forward lines

Devils projected lineup

Jack Hughes -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri
Miles Wood -- Travis Zajac -- Nikita Gusev
Wayne Simmonds -- Pavel Zacha -- Nick Merkley
Joey Anderson -- Kevin Rooney -- John Hayden
Mirco Mueller -- P.K. Subban
Will Butcher -- Damon Severson
Colton White -- Connor Carrick
Louis Domingue
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scratched: Jesper Bratt
Injured: Sami Vatanen (lower body)

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Brayden Schenn
Zach Sanford -- Robert Thomas -- David Perron
Alexander Steen -- Tyler Bozak -- Jordan Kyrou
Sammy Blais -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Ivan Barbashev
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Justin Faulk -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Jacob de la Rose, Mackenzie MacEachern, Marco Scandella
Injured: Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Jay Bouwmeester (cardiac episode)

Status report

The Blues placed defenseman Bouwmeester on long-term injured reserve Tuesday and acquired Scandella, a defenseman, in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens. ... Hughes will play left wing for the second straight game. … O'Reilly and Perron will be separated for the first time this season. ... Tarasenko, a forward, participated in the morning skate but Berube said there's no change regarding his timetable. ... Bouwmeester, a defenseman, returned to St. Louis on Sunday and visited with the Blues on Tuesday.

Stat pack

St. Louis has a seven-game home winning streak against New Jersey and is 15-2-0 in its past 17 games against the Devils. … O'Reilly has 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 18 games against New Jersey in his NHL career.