Blues at Senators preview

BLUES (36-26-7) at SENATORS (23-41-6)
7:30 p.m. ET; FS-MW, TSN5, RDS2, NHL.TV

The 19-year-old defenseman, who was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights with the No. 15 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, was acquired in a trade for forward Mark Stone on Feb. 25. Brannstrom has 29 points (seven goals, 22 assists) in 46 games in the American Hockey League this season.
Max Veronneau will also make his NHL debut for the Senators. The 23-year-old forward and Ottawa native signed a two-year entry-level contract on Tuesday after finishing his final season with Princeton University in the NCAA.
The Blues are in third place in the Central Division, four points behind the Nashville Predators with two games in hand, and five points behind the Winnipeg Jets. They are two points ahead of the Dallas Stars, who hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blues forward Brayden Schenn has 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in his past 15 games.
Senators forward Brady Tkachuk has four points (two goals, two assists) in his past four games.

They said it

"[We're] playing for each other. We've really become a good team on the ice, and that's really important. Night in and night out, they're playing together out there and working for each other." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"He likes to pass the puck. … He likes moving the puck and you can tell he's a skilled player, so I'm looking forward to the chance to play with him tonight." -- Senators forward Zack Smith on linemate Max Veronneau

Blues projected lineup

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

Senators projected lineup

Brady Tkachuk -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau -- Anthony Duclair
Rudolfs Balcers -- Chris Tierney -- Bobby Ryan
Zack Smith -- Oscar Lindberg -- Max Veronneau
Mikkel Boedker -- Magnus Paajarvi -- Brian Gibbons
Erik Brannstrom -- Dylan DeMelo
Christian Wolanin -- Cody Ceci
Ben Harpur -- Christian Jaros
Anders Nilsson
Craig Anderson
Scratched: Mark Borowiecki (illness)
Injured:Thomas Chabot (broken toe), Colin White (upper body)

Status report

Perron is skating with the team on the road trip but will not play. … Borowiecki will be a game-time decision. … Chabot is week to week after blocking a pass with his foot in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.

Stat pack

The Senators have lost four straight (0-3-1) and are 1-10-1 in their past 12 games.