Preview: Blues at Islanders

BLUES (15-7-4) at ISLANDERS (10-10-5)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-MW, NHL.TV

Blues team scope

Thursday marks the beginning of a four-game, six-day road trip for the St. Louis Blues, who finished 4-0-1 on a five-game homestand after they rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-2 overtime win against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday. But the Blues have lost six of their past seven road games and have been outscored 28-13 in that stretch. They are 3-6-1 on the road this season. "Hopefully it creates some momentum," goalie Jake Allen told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Hopefully we get some positive energy on the road. Obviously it capped off a really good homestand, we got points in every game. We took advantage of it, overall. When you look back on it, you have to be happy with it. I think [Montreal] was a testing game for us to see where we're at and we were able to get a win. Obviously things haven't gone great for us on the road this year. It's a great opportunity to keep this thing going we had our on our homestand."

Islanders team scope

New York Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk, who missed the 4-2 win against the New York Rangers on Tuesday because of the flu, was on the ice at the morning skate Thursday and is expected to play. "I was at home and the kids were sick. I knew it was just a matter of time before I got [the flu], even though I'm trying to wash my hands constantly," Boychuk said. "I'm cleaning up their stuff, and I knew it was just a matter of time." With their win Tuesday, the Islanders extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1). "I think some of the bounces are going our way, and I think we're working for them as well," Boychuk said. "Good things happen when you work for them, and we have been and now we're getting rewarded for it."

Blues projected lineup

Jaden Schwartz -- Paul Stastny -- David Perron
Robby Fabbri -- Alexander Steen -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jori Lehtera -- Patrik Berglund -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Ty Rattie, Nail Yakupov
Injured:Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)

Islanders projected lineup

Brock Nelson -- John Tavares -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Anthony Beauvillier -- Shane Prince
Anders Lee -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nikolay Kulemin -- Alan Quine -- Jason Chimera
Nick Leddy -- Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey -- Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan -- Dennis Seidenberg
Thomas Greiss
J-F Berube
Scratched:Jaroslav Halak, Scott Mayfield
Injured:Ryan Strome (flu), Adam Pelech (upper body)

Status report

The Blues did not have a morning skate Thursday. … Greiss will start after Halak played the past three games. Strome is the latest player to be hit by the flu bug going around the Islanders' locker room, so Beauvillier is expected to play for the first time since Nov. 30. Pelech skated for the first time since he was injured during a game against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 28. "The fact that he's out there today, maybe another couple of days of skating and we'll see where he's at," coach Jack Capuano said.

Who's hot

Steen has a three-game point streak (one goal, four assists). Schwartz has scored seven goals in his past 10 games. … Bailey has one goal and five assists during a six-game point streak. Tavares has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists).