St. Louis @ Buffalo preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 17, 2019 ) St. Louis 3, Buffalo 4

Buffalo Sabres captain Jack Eichel is in the midst of the hottest stretch of his professional career. The 23-year-old Eichel carries a personal-best 13-game point streak (10 goals, 13 assists) into Tuesday's contest against the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Eichel was named the NHL's Third Star of the Week on Monday, one day after he set up defenseman Colin Miller's overtime goal in Buffalo's 3-2 victory over Edmonton. Coming through at critical times has been a staple of Eichel during his point streak, as he has recorded five points on tying goals and eight on go-ahead tallies. Eichel and company will look to try their luck against Jordan Binnington, who was pulled for the first time since Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final in St. Louis' 5-2 setback to Toronto. "I'm not worried about him at all. He's going to do his thing. We just have to be better in front of him to make it easier for him," Blues center -- and former Sabre -- Ryan O'Reilly said of Binnington.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, FS Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE BLUES (18-7-6): David Perron scored against the Maple Leafs to boost his team-leading point total to 29, with 10 (four goals, six assists) coming in his past 10 games. The 31-year-old looks to continue that torrid streak versus Buffalo, against which he collected one goal and two assists in last season's two-game series. O'Reilly, who scored and set up a goal against the Sabres in 2018-19, has notched six of his club-best 21 assists in his last seven games.

ABOUT THE SABRES (14-11-6): Buffalo coach Ralph Krueger told reporters that he hoped Casey Mittelstadt takes a bigger-picture view of his struggling game after the former first-round pick was made a healthy scratch against the Oilers. "For Casey, it was a day to take a breath, take a watch from the outside and learn from sometimes watching from the outside," Krueger said. Mittelstadt, 21, has just two points (one goal, one assist) in his last 20 games.

OVERTIME

1. Buffalo D Rasmus Ristolainen has six points (one goal, five assists) and a plus-8 rating over his last six games.

2. The Blues recalled Fs Jordan Kyrou and Austin Poganski from San Antonio of the American Hockey League on Monday.

3. Sabres RW Kyle Okposo has scored in consecutive contests after netting just one goal in his previous 19 games of the season.

PREDICTION: Sabres 3, Blues 2