Blues at Penguins preview
St. Louis eyes point in 11th straight road game; Pittsburgh 6-0-2 in past eight at home
by Wes Crosby / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
BLUES (18-5-6) at PENGUINS (14-9-4)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN
The Game
The St. Louis Blues will try to tie the longest road point streak in their history when they play the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday.
St. Louis is 8-0-2 in its past 10 road games. Its longest streak away from home came during the 1999-00 season, when it was 10-0 with one tie.
The Blues have outscored their opponents 16-6 in four straight wins including a 5-2 victory against the Penguins at Enterprise Center on Saturday.
Pittsburgh has lost two straight after winning its previous three and is 4-3-3 in its past 10 games. It's 6-0-2 on an eight-game home point streak since a 3-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct. 19, the longest since winning 11 in a row from Jan. 1 to Feb. 17, 2018.
The Penguins will play without forward Patric Hornqvist, who will be out longer-term after sustaining a lower-body injury in practice Monday.
Players to watch
Blues forward David Perron has nine points (three goals, six assists) on an eight-game point streak. He played 86 games with the Penguins during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
Penguins forward Jake Guentzel has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in his past eight games. He leads Pittsburgh with 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists).
They said it
"We understand what kind of team they are. Just recently played them. ... They're a hard-working team." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"We need guys to step up and fill some important roles for us. ... I don't think, at this point, we're looking to ease anybody in." -- Penguins coach Mike Sullivan
Blues projected lineup
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Nathan Walker
Zach Sanford -- Ryan O'Reilly -- David Perron
Ivan Barbashev -- Tyler Bozak -- Robert Thomas
Mackenzie MacEachern -- Jacob de la Rose -- Troy Brouwer
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn -- Justin Faulk
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Austin Poganski
Injured: Vladimir Tarasenko (upper body), Alexander Steen (ankle sprain), Sammy Blais (wrist), Oskar Sundqvist (lower body)
Penguins projected lineup
Jake Guentzel -- Evgeni Malkin -- Dominik Simon
Alex Galchenyuk -- Jared McCann -- Stefan Noesen
Dominik Kahun -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Tanev
Zach Aston-Reese -- Joseph Blandisi -- Sam Lafferty
Jack Johnson -- Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson -- John Marino
Juuso Riikola -- Chad Ruhwedel
Matt Murray
Tristan Jarry
Scratched: Zach Trotman
Injured: Sidney Crosby (core muscle surgery), Nick Bjugstad (core muscle surgery), Justin Schultz (lower body), Brian Dumoulin (ankle surgery), Patric Hornqvist (lower body), Bryan Rust (lower body)
Status report
Gunnarsson will return after he was a healthy scratch in St. Louis' most recent game and missing the previous two with an illness. ... The Penguins did not hold a morning skate.
Stat pack
Binnington is 9-2-1 with a 2.06 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in his past 12 games. ... Malkin has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in his past eight games. He needs three goals to reach 400 in the NHL.