Sharks at Blues preview

SHARKS (8-5-3) at BLUES (5-5-3)
8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

Johnson is coming off a 4-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in which he made 38 saves. He is 3-1-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in five games against the Sharks.
Aaron Dell is expected to make his fifth start of the season for the Sharks, who were defeated 4-3 by the Dallas Stars on Thursday. Dell allowed three goals on 26 shots in his previous start, a 4-1 defeat at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 1

Players to watch

Sharks forward Joe Thornton, in his 21st NHL season, is one goal away from No. 400.
Blues center Ryan O'Reilly has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in an eight-game point streak.

They said it

"We'll take a few things from this. We've got another game. Whether it's good or not, whatever, it's the schedule. We've got a good team (in) St. Louis (we're playing), and we can be better." -- Sharks center Joe Pavelski after a 4-3 loss at the Dallas Stars on Thursday
"He played a really strong game [Tuesday]. I just think he deserves another opportunity to get back in there." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo on starting goalie Chad Johnson

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Joonas Donskoi
Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow -- Joe Thornton -- Marcus Sorensen
Melker Karlsson -- Antti Suomela -- Rourke Chartier
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Erik Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Aaron Dell
Martin Jones
Scratched: Radim Simek, Tim Heed
Injured: Tomas Hertl (concussion)

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Robby Fabbri -- Robert Thomas -- David Perron
Alexander Steen -- Tyler Bozak -- Nikita Soshnikov
Zach Sanford -- Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn -- Colton Parayko
Joel Edmundson -- Jordan Schmaltz
Chad Johnson
Jake Allen
Scratched: Jay Bouwmeester, Pat Maroon
Injured: Brayden Schenn (upper body), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)

Status report

The Sharks did not hold a morning skate. ... Maroon will be a healthy scratch for the first time this season. ... Soshnikov will make his season debut after sustaining a concussion during the preseason. ... Schenn will miss his second straight game but is expected to practice Saturday. ... Parayko will play after missing practice Thursday for personal reasons.

Stat pack

Meier has 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in his past 13 games and is tied with Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins for the NHL lead in goals with 12. ... Couture has 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in his past 11 games. ... Karlsson needs one assist for 400 in the NHL. ... Burns has 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in his past 13 games and has a three-game point streak (five assists). ... Tarasenko has seven points (four goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.