Maple Leafs at Blues preview
Toronto has lost three of four games; St. Louis is 6-2-1 in past nine
by Louie Korac / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
MAPLE LEAFS (13-13-4) at BLUES (18-6-6)
7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CBC, SN, SN360, CITY, TVAS, FS-MW, NHL.TV
The Game
The St. Louis Blues will try to extend their winning streak against the Toronto Maple Leafs to eight straight games when they play Saturday at Enterprise Center.
The Blues, who defeated Toronto 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 7, have outscored the Maple Leafs 26-14 since Toronto last defeated St. Louis, 4-1 at home Jan. 2, 2016.
The Maple Leafs have lost three of their past four and have been outscored 16-8 after winning three straight since coach Sheldon Keefe replaced Mike Babcock on Nov. 20.
The Blues are 6-2-1 in their past nine games but are coming off a 3-0 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday that ended their four-game winning streak and their 10-game road point streak (8-0-2).
Players to watch
Maple Leafs center John Tavares has six points (four goals, two assists) his past five games.
Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has four points (two goals, two assists) his past three games and 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in 10 games against the Maple Leafs.
They said it
"It's a big matchup for us. They do a lot of good things in the d-zone. They're a hard team to play against in our own d-zone. We've got to make sure we come ready to play." -- Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner on the Blues
"Any time you get a new coach, you get energized just because you hear a different voice or whatever. They got Mitch Marner back last game, obviously Freddy Anderson's a great goalie. They've got some really good offensive players. Our game doesn't change much from one team to another." -- Blues forward David Perron on the Maple Leafs
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Pontus Aberg -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Ilya Mikheyev -- Alexander Kerfoot -- Kasperi Kapanen
Pierre Engvall -- Jason Spezza -- Nic Petan
Morgan Rielly -- Tyson Barrie
Jake Muzzin -- Justin Holl
Travis Dermott -- Cody Ceci
Frederik Andersen
Michael Hutchinson
Scratched: Frederik Gauthier, Dmytro Timashov, Martin Marincin
Injured: Andreas Johnsson (leg), Trevor Moore (shoulder)
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
Colton Parayko -- Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester -- Justin Faulk
Vince Dunn -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Carl Gunnarsson, Austin Poganski
Injured: Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder), Alexander Steen (ankle), Sammy Blais (wrist), Oskar Sundqvist (lower body)
Status report
Aberg will step into Johnsson's spot on the top line. Johnsson was placed on long-term injured reserve Friday after blocking a shot in a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday; he'll be re-evaluated after Christmas. ... Petan will play after being recalled from Toronto of the American Hockey League on Friday. ... Bortuzzo will replace Gunnarsson. ... Steen and Sundqvist skated Saturday but Blues coach Craig Berube said neither is ready to play yet.
Stat pack
Andersen is 4-6-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average, a .914 save percentage and one shutout in 13 games against the Blues. ... Binnington is 9-3-1 with a 2.13 GAA and .931 save percentage with one shutout in his past 13 starts.