Blues at Sharks preview

BLUES (35-26-5) at SHARKS (35-22-9)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-MW, NHL.TV

The Sharks are in third place in the Pacific Division, one point behind the Anaheim Ducks and two ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. Martin Jones will start for San Jose, which is 2-1-0 halfway through its six-game homestand.
Carter Hutton will start for the Blues, who are 1-6-2 in their past nine games and trail the Kings and Colorado Avalanche by two points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past eight games
Sharks forward Joe Pavelski 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in his past 13 games.

They said it

"It's the old next man up. These are injuries that are going to be long term, and we got guys that can step up." -- Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo on playing without injured defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and forward Scottie Upshall
"You definitely learn a lot. It goes by fast. Looking back, when I first came into the League, I definitely see progress."-- Sharks forward Timo Meier, who is expected to play his 100th NHL game

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Ivan Barbashev -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Dmitrij Jaskin
Vladimir Sobotka-- Kyle Brodziak -- Patrik Berglund
Nikita Soshnikov -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Tage Thompson
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn -- Colton Parayko
Jordan Schmaltz
-- Robert Bortuzzo
Carter Hutton
Jake Allen
Scratched:Chris Thorburn
Injured:Jay Bouwmeester (hip), Scottie Upshall (knee), Joel Edmundson (broken forearm)

Sharks projected lineup

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Joonas Donskoi
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow --
Eric Fehr
-- Marcus Sorensen
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched: Tim Heed, Paul Martin, Jannik Hansen
Injured:Joe Thornton (knee), Joel Ward (shoulder), Melker Karlsson (lower body)

Status report

Gunnarsson will skate on the top pair with Pietrangelo, replacing Bouwmeester, who re-aggravated a hip injury during a 3-2 overtime loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday and is out for the season. Dunn will move up and skate with Parayko, and Schmaltz will replace Bouwmeester and skate with Bortuzo. ... Edmundson made the trip and continued skating but will not play. ... Soshnikov will replace Upshall, who sprained his left knee against Dallas and is out indefinitely. ... Karlsson, who skated after missing two days of practice, will be a game-time decision.

Stat pack

Schenn is expected to play his 500th NHL game. ... Jones is 5-2-1 with a 2.27 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in his past eight starts.