Blues at Rangers preview

BLUES (41-27-8) at RANGERS (29-34-13)
7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-MW+, NHL.TV

The Blues would also clinch if the Arizona Coyotes lose in any fashion against the Colorado Avalanche later Friday.
St. Louis is third in the Central Division, two points behind the Nashville Predators and four points behind the first-place Winnipeg Jets. The Blues have won four in a row and they're 5-0-1 in their past six games.
The Rangers have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. They have lost back-to-back games and are 1-6-1 in their past eight.

Players to watch

Blues forward Zach Sanford has points in four straight games (one goal, four assists).
Rangers center Mika Zibanejad scored two goals in a 6-3 loss against the Boston Bruins to reach 30 goals in a season for the first time in his NHL career.

They said it

"It's crazy when you think of it. I saw something that on Jan. 2 we were last in the NHL [standings] and look how we turned it around. But we've worked hard for it. Obviously, the beginning of the year wasn't great, but guys kept working. Things wouldn't go well, but guys kept working, kept working. … We could potentially win the division. It was very nerve-wracking at the start of the year." -- Blues center Ryan O'Reilly
"I would have said he's a No. 1 center regardless, but it's always nice to have your No. 1 center score 30 goals. I think there is more there. I think he's got the ability to do more than that." -- Rangers coach David Quinn on Zibanejad

Blues projected lineup

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

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Pavel Buchnevich
Vladislav Namestnikov -- Filip Chytil -- Vinni Lettieri
Jimmy Vesey -- Lias Andersson -- Ryan Strome
Brendan Lemieux -- Brett Howden -- Boo Nieves
Brady Skjei -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal -- Tony DeAngelo
Brendan Smith -- Neal Pionk
Alexandar Georgiev
Henrik Lundqvist
Scratched:Connor Brickley, John Gilmour, Fredrik Claesson
Injured:Jesper Fast (upper body), Libor Hajek (separated shoulder)

Status report

Kreider and Staal will return for the Rangers, replacing Gilmour and Claesson. Kreider missed the past three games with an undisclosed injury and Staal missed two in a row with a lower-body injury. Smith, who had been playing forward, will shift back to defense with the return of Kreider.

Stat pack

Binnington is 12-0-1 with two shutouts, a 1.68 goals-against average and .941 save percentage against Eastern Conference teams. … The fourth line of Sanford, Barbashev and Steen has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) and a combined plus-15 rating in the four games since it was put together.