Canucks at Blues preview

CANUCKS (35-36-10) at BLUES (44-28-9)
4 p.m. ET; NHLN, FS-MW, SNP, NHL.TV

St. Louis, 8-1-2 its past 11 games and coming off a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday, is one point behind the first-place Nashville Predators and tied with the Winnipeg Jets for second. The Blues would win the division if they defeat the Canucks, and the Predators and Jets lose in any fashion; or if they lose in overtime or the shootout, and Nashville and Winnipeg lose in regulation.
Vancouver, which will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season, had its three-game winning streak end with a 3-2 loss to the Predators on Thursday. The Canucks are 7-4-1 in their past 12 games.

Players to watch

Canucks center Bo Horvat has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in the past 13 games and needs two goals for 100 in the NHL.
Blues center Ryan O'Reilly has 28 goals, one shy of a new NHL career high, and needs three points for 500 in the NHL.

They said it

"Everyone dreams as a kid of playing playoff hockey. I haven't gotten a taste of it, but I think we're taking steps in the right way this year. Hopefully next year at this time, we're fighting for the home-ice advantage or looking for a playoff spot." -- Canucks defenseman Ben Hutton
"To clinch and get into the playoffs after the ups and downs we had throughout the year, now we have a chance to get first. Obviously, we need help along the way, but we'll worry about ourselves." -- Blues forward Brayden Schenn

Canucks projected lineup

Tanner Pearson -- Bo Horvat -- Loui Eriksson
Jake Virtanen -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Ryan Spooner -- Adam Gaudette -- Josh Leivo
Tim Schaller -- Jay Beagle -- Markus Granlund
Alexander Edler -- Troy Stecher
Ben Hutton --
Brogan Rafferty
Quinn Hughes -- Luke Schenn
Thatcher Demko
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Ashton Sautner, Josh Teves, Nikolay Goldobin, Derrick Pouliot, Jake Kielly, Sven Baertschi, Alex Biega
Injured: Guillaume Brisebois (hip), Tyler Motte (upper body), Chris Tanev (ankle), Antoine Roussel (knee), Brandon Sutter (hernia)

Blues projected lineup

Brayden Schenn -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz -- Oskar Sundqvist -- David Perron
Pat Maroon -- Tyler Bozak -- Robert Thomas
Robby Fabbri -- Ivan Barbashev -- Alexander Steen
Vince Dunn -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Jay Bouwmeester
Joel Edmundson -- Robert Bortuzzo
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Scratched: Michael Del Zotto, Mackenzie MacEachern, Zach Sanford
Injured: Colton Parayko (mid body), Sammy Blais (lower body)

Status report

Kielly might be the backup goalie. ... Parayko didn't practice Friday. Coach Craig Berube said the defenseman's absence was more rest-related and that he might not play after missing his first game of the season Thursday. ... Blais could play after missing 12 games.

Stat pack

Pearson has four points (three goals, one assist) the past two games. ... Perron has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) his past 24 games. ... Binnington, who set the Blues rookie record with his 23rd win Thursday, is 19-4-0 with a 1.86 goals-against average and .928 save percentage in his past 23 starts. ... St. Louis has won six in a row at home and 13 of 15.