Blues at Jets preview

BLUES (33-20-3) at JETS (32-13-9)
8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-MW, NHL.TV

Scheifele had missed 16 games because of an upper-body injury sustained during a 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 27. He's expected to center a line with right wing Blake Wheeler and left wing Patrik Laine.
The Blues will play without defenseman Joel Edmundson, who had surgery Friday to repair a broken right forearm sustained during the first period of a 6-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. He will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

Players to watch

Blues forward Alexander Steen has 10 points (five goals, five assists) in his past 10 games.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck is 5-0-2 with a 1.94 goals-against average, a .934 save percentage and two shutouts in his past seven starts.

They said it

"Last time we were in that building they gave it to us pretty good (a 4-0 loss Dec. 17), so we have to be ready for a real hard game. It's a good team, a team that we're chasing. They've been on top and obviously for good reason. It's a good hockey team, so we'll have to be ready." -- Blues coach Mike Yeo on the Jets
"There's definitely nerves, but I'm very, very excited to get back playing. You can train as much as you want [but] nothing is like playing a real game. I'll get my legs under me early and start from there. Obviously my adrenaline is going to kick in, and hopefully it's a good game." -- Jets forward Mark Scheifele

Blues projected lineup

Alexander Steen -- Paul Stastny -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Patrik Berglund
Dmitrij Jaskin -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Tage Thompson
Scottie Upshall -- Kyle Brodziak -- Ivan Barbashev
Carl Gunnarsson -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Colton Parayko
Robert Bortuzzo -- Vince Dunn
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched:Chris Thorburn, Chris Butler
Injured: Zach Sanford (shoulder), Joel Edmundson (forearm)

Jets projected lineup

Patrik Laine -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little -- Nikolaj Ehlers
Kyle Connor -- Andrew Copp -- Joel Armia
Marko Dano -- Nic Petan -- Jack Roslovic
Josh Morrissey -- Tyler Myers
Toby Enstrom -- Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot -- Dmitry Kulikov
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched:Tucker Poolman, Brendan Lemieux
Injured:Shawn Matthias (upper body), Steve Mason (concussion), Jacob Trouba (lower body), Adam Lowry (upper body), Matt Hendricks (upper body), Brandon Tanev (upper body), Michael Hutchinson (concussion)

Status report

Bortuzzo is expected to take Edmundson's spot in the lineup. Butler, a defenseman, was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League when Edmundson was placed on injured reserve. Allen is expected to start after Hutton made 23 saves Thursday. … Hutchinson sustained a concussion in practice Tuesday.

Stat pack

The Blues have lost three straight games in Winnipeg (0-3-0) after going 6-0-2 in their first eight games at Bell MTS Place. … The Jets are 16-1-1 in their past 18 home games.