Blues at Wild preview

BLUES (30-22-5) at WILD (27-25-6)
3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN

The Blues, coming off a 3-0 victory at the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, have the longest active winning streak in the NHL and can tie their record 10 of consecutive victories, set Jan. 3-23, 2002.
St. Louis, in third place in the Central Division, two points ahead of the Dallas Stars, has outscored opponents 36-14 during the streak, including consecutive shutouts.
Goalie Jordan Binnington will go for his eighth victory in a row, which would set the record for longest winning streak by a St. Louis rookie. He made 21 saves in a 4-0 win at the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday to tie Brent Johnson, who won seven straight twice as a rookie for St. Louis in 2000-01.
The Wild, who lead the Vancouver Canucks by one point for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, have lost three games in a row and are 1-4-3 in their past eight. They have allowed at least four goals in five of their past seven games.

Players to watch

Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko has 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in an NHL career-high 11-game point streak.
Wild forward Mikael Granlund has two goals and two assists during a three-game point streak.

They said it

"I think we're confident, but I think the team really understands the work that has to be put in there, game to game. The focus and urgency that's needed all the time, and we'll need the same [against the Wild]." -- Blues coach Craig Berube
"[Getting a win against St. Louis] is vital. It's a big game. It's why you play hockey, is for these games. You either embrace it and say, 'I can't wait for this,' or you're afraid of it, and we hope guys will embrace it." -- Wild coach Bruce Boudreau

Blues projected lineup

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

Wild projected lineup

Zach Parise -- Mikael Granlund -- Luke Kunin
Jason Zucker -- Eric Staal -- Charlie Coyle
Jordan Greenway -- Joel Eriksson Ek -- Marcus Foligno
Brad Hunt -- Eric Fehr -- Pontus Aberg
Ryan Suter -- Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin -- Anthony Bitetto
Nick Seeler -- Greg Pateryn
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
Scratched:Kyle Rau
Injured: Matt Dumba (upper body), Mikko Koivu (knee), Matt Hendricks (lower body), Victor Rask (lower body)

Status report

Gunnarsson, a defenseman who has not played since Feb. 5, was placed on injured reserve Saturday, when Blais, a forward, was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League. … Steen returned to St. Louis on Saturday for the birth of his child and will be a healthy scratch. … Aberg will return to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.

Stat pack

Binnington has a 1.65 goals-against average, a .939 save percentage and two shutouts during his seven-game winning streak. ... O'Reilly has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in the past 14 games and 26 (eight goals, 18 assists) in the past 23 games. ... Schenn has 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) in the past nine games. ... Spurgeon has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past two games. ... Suter has three assists in the past two games.