Preview: Blues at Lightning

BLUES (18-11-5) at LIGHTNING (16-14-3)
7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, FS-MW, NHL.TV

Blues team scope

The St. Louis Blues will be looking for back-to-back road wins for the first time this season after defeating the Dallas Stars 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday. They will have to do it without first-line center Paul Stastny, who was placed on injured reserve Thursday with an upper-body injury. "We're a team that switches lines quite a bit actually, so everyone kind of played with each other at some point," Blues forward Jaden Schwartz said. "Obviously [Statsny] is big part of our team and a guy we count on offensively and defensively. We'll miss him [Thursday] but we'll have to have a full team effort." St. Louis' power play proved to be the difference in its first meeting against the Tampa Bay Lightning this season; the Blues scored three goals with the man-advantage in a 5-4 win at Scottrade Center on Dec. 1. St. Louis is 5-9-1 on the road this season.

Lightning team scope

The Lightning continue to shuffle the lineup because of injuries. No. 1 goaltender Ben Bishop will be out for 3-4 weeks with a lower-body injury, and forwards Vladislav Namestnikov (illness) and Cedric Paquette (lower body) are doubtful for Thursday. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, 7-4-1 with a 2.41 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 14 games (12 starts), will start. "It's getting a little ridiculous," Lightning forward Alex Killorn said. "But we have to play through and continue to fight. The guys that have been called up are working hard and making contributions." Forward Jonathan Drouin has been a major bright spot for Tampa Bay with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past eight games, including the game-winning goal Tuesday in a 4-1 victory against the Detroit Red Wings. The Lightning will be looking to build off of a strong game from its special teams, which scored two power-play goals Tuesday and was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill. Tampa Bay is 3-7-2 in its past 12 games.

Blues projected lineup

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

Lightning projected lineup

Brian Boyle -- Valtteri Filppula -- Jonathan Drouin
Alex Killorn -- Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point
Cory Conacher -- Tanner Richard -- JT Brown
Michael Bournival -- Erik Condra
Victor Hedman -- Anton Stralman
Jason Garrison -- Andrej Sustr
Slater Koekkoek -- Braydon Coburn
Nikita Nesterov
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Kristers Gudlevskis
Scratched:None
Injured: Ryan Callahan (lower body), Vladislav Namestnikov (illness), Cedric Paquette (lower body), Steven Stamkos (knee injury), Nikita Kucherov (lower body), Ondrej Palat (undisclosed)

Status report

Pietrangelo will play Thursday after being held out with an illness Tuesday against Dallas. … Palat and Kucherov took part in the morning skate, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper said neither was ready to return. … St. Louis recalled Megan from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and he is expected to make his NHL debut Thursday. Megan, 22, was a fifth-round pick (No. 138) by the Florida Panthers in the 2009 NHL Draft and has 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 28 AHL games this season. … The Lightning recalled Bournival from Syracuse of the AHL. He had no points in three games with Tampa Bay earlier this season.

Who's hot

Tarasenko has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in his past 12 games and 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists) in his past 23. … Hedman has seven points (one goal, six assists) during a four-game point streak. … Killorn has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past four games.