BLUES (27-22-5) at MAPLE LEAFS (25-17-10)
7:30 p.m. ET; SNO, FS-MW, NHL.TV
Blues team scope
The St. Louis Blues are on a two-game shutout streak and have not allowed a goal in 120:18. Goalie Jake Allen will start after making 30 saves in a 6-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. Carter Hutton made 26 saves in a 2-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. "Part of playing good defense is just possessing the puck and I think we've been doing a good job of that, working in the other end and limiting the other team's odd-man rush chances," defenseman Jay Bouwmeester said. The Blues are 3-0-1 since Mike Yeo took over as coach on Feb. 1. They're one point behind the Nashville Predators for third place in the Atlantic Division and hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. "It's kind of a tipping point in your year where you are either going to come together and forge ahead or not," Bouwmeester said. "We still believe we have a good team in here."
Maple Leafs team scope
Goaltender Frederik Andersen will start for the Toronto Maple Leafs after backing up Curtis McElhinney in a 3-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Andersen allowed five goals on 31 shots in a 5-1 loss to the Blues on Feb. 2. "Freddie goes tonight with an opportunity to bounce back, our team was no good against St. Louis," coach Mike Babcock said. "We're competitive so it should be a better opportunity for Freddie because our team will play better. Now he's got to do his part." Forward Auston Matthews expects it to be difficult to score against the Blues. "They're tough to play against; they have some big bodies there on the back end," Matthews said. "For us, we want to get in front of their goalie, get guys to the net and get those second-chance opportunities. It's not going to be a pretty goal, it's going to be kind of an ugly goal, a rebound goal so we have to get guys to the net to cash in on rebounds." The Maple Leafs are 2-0-1 in their past three games after losing their previous three. They are tied with the Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division but Ottawa has a game in hand.
Blues projected lineup
Alexander Steen -- Paul Stastny -- Vladimir Tarasenko
Kenny Agostino -- Jori Lehtera -- David Perron
Jaden Schwartz -- Patrik Berglund -- Magnus Paajarvi
Scottie Upshall -- Ivan Barbashev -- Ryan Reaves
Jay Bouwmeester -- Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson -- Kevin Shattenkirk
Joel Edmundson -- Colton Parayko
Jake Allen
Carter Hutton
Scratched: Robert Bortuzzo, Dmitrij Jaskin, Nail Yakupov
Injured: Robby Fabbri (knee)
Maple Leafs projected lineup
James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Mitchell Marner
Leo Komarov -- Nazem Kadri -- William Nylander
Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- Connor Brown
Matt Martin -- Ben Smith -- Nikita Soshnikov
Morgan Rielly -- Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner -- Connor Carrick
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Josh Leivo, Martin Marincin, Alexey Marchenko
Injured: None
Status report
Gunnarsson will return to the lineup after he was a healthy scratch against Ottawa, replacing Bortuzzo. … Marincin will be a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game.
Who's hot
Steen has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Statsny has seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five. … Tarasenko scored twice against the Senators and has five in his past six games. … Matthews has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past three games. .. Marner (3-4-7) and Bozak (1-4-5) are each on five-game point streaks.
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