Preview: Rangers Play Final Western Conference Game in St. Louis

Rangers (32-32-7, 71 pts) at Blues (37-38-5, 79 pts)

8 pm; Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO

MSG+; ESPN 1050 AM

St. Louis took the first and only meeting between the two clubs this season, with a 3-1 win back on Oct. 10 at The Garden. Zibanejad had the lone Ranger goal in that game.
The Blues come in with 79 points on the season, putting them in the hunt for a wild card spot out west, though it's a crowded field, including Calgary, Anaheim, Dallas and Colorado, all of which are ahead of St. Louis.
The Blues are 3-6-1 in their last 10, including a 4-1 loss against the Avalanche on Thursday night. A slump prior to the trade deadline led to St. Louis shipping out center Paul Stastny to Winnipeg.
Vladimir Tarasenko leads the team with 27 goals, and is tied for the lead in points with 58. Brayden Schenn, who came over in a trade with Philadelphia last summer, leads the team with 34 assists and also has 58 points.
Goaltender Jake Allen is 21-21-2 with a 2.76 GAA and a .907 SV%, while backup Carter Hutton is having a strong campaign, going 16-7-3 with a 2.02 GAA and a .934 SV% with three shutouts.

Players to Watch

Kreider has tallied a point in six of the last seven games against the Blues (four goals, five assists), and he has registered a goal in four of the seven contests.
All-Star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has four points in his last three games, and is having one of his best seasons offensively of his career. He's two goals shy of the 14 he had last season, and need eight points to match his best mark of 51 he set back in 2011-12.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Jesper Fast
Ryan Spooner - Kevin Hayes - Mats Zuccarello
Jimmy Vesey - Vlad Namestnikov - Pavel Buchnevich
Cody McLeod - David Desharnais - Paul Carey
Marc Staal - Neal Pionk
Brady Skjei - Ryan Sproul
Rob O'Gara - John Gilmour

Inside the Numbers

Dating back to Nov. 3, 2002, 16 of 20 meetings between the Rangers and St. Louis have been decided by two or fewer goals. In addition, 13 of those contests have been decided by one goal or fewer.