Blues at Wild preview

BLUES (33-23-5) at WILD (29-27-6)
7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV

The Wild have won two in a row after a five-game losing streak (0-4-1) but are on a six-game losing streak (0-4-2) on home ice. They trail the Colorado Avalanche by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference
The Blues, coming off a 2-1 shootout win against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, have won 12 of their past 13 games and shut out opponents in three of their past six.
St. Louis is six points ahead of the Dallas Stars for third place in the Central Division.

Players to watch

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko has points in 13 of his past 15 games (23 points; 12 goals, 11 assists).
Wild forward Zach Parise has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past two games.

They said it

"Those are huge points for us. Bank 'em and move on to (Minnesota)." -- Blues forward Alexander Steen
"It's funny that we haven't had the success at home, and I don't know the reason. I've gone over everything from practice time to non-practice time to everything. …We still have enough games at home that if we can get hot at home, I feel confident." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrick Maroon -- Tyler Bozak -- Robert Thomas
Alexander Steen -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Sammy Blais
Mackenzie MacEachern -- Ivan Barbashev -- Zach Sanford
Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Jordan Binnington
Scratched:Chris Butler, Robby Fabbri, Jordan Kyrou
Injured:Brayden Schenn (upper body), Carl Gunnarsson (upper body), David Perron (upper body)

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Mikael Granlund -- Pontus Aberg
Jordan Greenway -- Eric Staal -- Jason Zucker
Ryan Donato -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Luke Kunin
JT Brown -- Eric Fehr -- Marcus Foligno
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Greg Pateryn
Brad Hunt -- Anthony Bitetto
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched:Matt Hendricks, Nick Seeler
Injured: Mathew Dumba (upper body), MIkko Koivu (knee), Victor Rask (lower body)

Status report

St. Louis did not skate. … The Blues placed Schenn on injured reserve and recalled Kyrou from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Saturday. … Rask skated Sunday but is still far from a return.

Stat pack

O'Reilly has 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in his past 18 games. …Schwartz is one point from 300 in the NHL. …The Wild are 13-13-5 at home. …Staal has three points (one goal, two assists) in his past two games.