Islanders at Blues preview

ISLANDERS (22-13-4) at BLUES (16-18-4)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, MSG+, NHL.TV

New York, which has won eight of its past nine games, has outscored opponents 19-7 during the five-game winning streak.
Islanders forward Jordan Eberle will return after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury.
Forward Vladimir Tarasenko (illness) will return for St. Louis after missing a 5-2 win against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, and defenseman Joel Edmundson will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

Players to watch

Islanders center Mathew Barzal has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak.
Blues forward David Perron has eight points (two goals, six assists) in a five-game point streak.

They said it

"We're not in the playoffs. Everybody thinks we're in the playoffs; we're not. We're in a playoff race, but we're not in the playoffs, so we've got to keep climbing."-- Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"We talked and stuff and we want him to take a game here and watch. We've got a lot of defensemen, they're all healthy, so we have to make decisions. ... His puck decisions at times, just being more aggressive in his play would be the main things." -- Blues coach Craig Berube on scratching defenseman Joel Edmundson

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Michael Dal Colle -- Leo Komarov -- Joshua Ho-Sang
Matt Martin -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched:Luca Sbisa, Ross Johnston, Tom Kuhnhackl
Injured:Thomas Hickey (upper body), Valtteri Filppula (upper body), Andrew Ladd (lower body)

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Robert Thomas
Zach Sanford -- Tyler Bozak -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri -- Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Jordan Binnington
Scratched: Pat Maroon, Joel Edmundson, Jordan Schmaltz
Injured: None

Status report

Eberle will replace Kuhnhackl. ... Cizikas had a maintenance day Friday but will play. ... Sanford will replace Maroon. ... Binnington was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Saturday morning.

Stat pack

Nelson has three points (one goal, two assists) in a three-game point streak. ... O'Reilly has five points (two goals, three assists) in a four-game point streak.