Blues at Oilers preview

BLUES (31-12-8) at OILERS (26-18-6)
9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-MW, NHL.TV

The center has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in a nine-game point streak and is tied with center and teammate Connor McDavid for the NHL scoring lead, each with 77 points (27 goals, 50 assists).
Goalie Mikko Koskinen will start for Edmonton, 6-1-2 in its past nine games after going 2-7-1 in its previous 10 games.
Blues forward Alexander Steen will play his 999th NHL game after missing the third period of a 5-4 shootout win at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday because of a lower-body injury.
Goalie Jake Allen will start for Western Conference-leading St. Louis, 1-2-1 in its past four games following a four-game winning streak.

Players to watch

Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 21 games against Edmonton.
Oilers center Connor McDavid has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in a seven-game point streak.

They said it

"It takes more than one guy or one defenseman to shut them down, it takes all five guys on the ice to go out there and do a job and play them hard. That's the way you've got to try to beat this team." -- Blues center Brayden Schenn on facing Edmonton
"They're the Cup champs so they're strong all over the ice. They have two good goalies and their back end is solid. Up front, they have forwards who check hard and can score goals, so they're the full package." -- Oilers center Connor McDavid on facing St. Louis

Blues projected lineup

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

Oilers projected lineup

James Neal -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Leon Draisaitl -- Kailer Yamamoto
Gaetan Haas -- Riley Sheahan -- Josh Archibald
Jujhar Khaira -- Sam Gagner -- Alex Chiasson
Oscar Klefbom -- Ethan Bear
Darnell Nurse -- Adam Larsson
Caleb Jones -- Matt Benning
Mikko Koskinen
Mike Smith
Scratched: Patrick Russell, Tyler Benson, William Lagesson
Injured:Joakim Nygard (hand), Kris Russell (concussion)

Status report

Allen is 2-0-0 against Edmonton this season with a 1.51 goals-against average and .957 save percentage. … The Oilers recalled Benson, a forward, and Lagesson, a defenseman, from Bakersfield of the American Hockey League on Thursday, but neither will play. … Nygard and Russell each was injured against Calgary on Wednesday.

Stat pack

Perron has 12 points (six goals, six assists) in his past nine games. … Sanford has five points (two goals, three assists) in a three-game point streak. … Nugent-Hopkins has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his past nine games.