Edmonton @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 18, 2018 ) St. Louis 4, Edmonton 1

The St. Louis Blues must avoid playing down to their competition when they start a four-game homestand Tuesday against the almost down-and-out Edmonton Oilers. St. Louis is coming off a 1-1-1 road trip with a 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh sandwiched by losses to Ottawa (2-0) and Buffalo (4-3 in a shootout Sunday), and is 5-5-3 since an 11-game win streak moved it into playoff position.

"I would say a bad trip, for sure," Blues center Ryan O'Reilly, who leads the club with 69 points, told reporters. "You look at who we're playing, these are games that being a mature team there's opportunities for us to gain ground and catch the teams ahead of us." St. Louis sits third in the Central, five points behind Nashville and five clear in the race for a playoff spot in the Western Conference with 10 games remaining. Edmonton's chances of reaching the postseason grow slimmer each day after Sunday's 6-3 loss at Vegas left them seven points behind Arizona for the final wild-card spot in the West. Oilers captain Connor McDavid became the first player to record eight straight multi-point games since Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier in the 2007-08 season when he had two assists Sunday, giving him three goals and 18 points during the run.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One, Sportsnet East, Sportsnet Ontario, Sportsnet Pacific (Edmonton), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE OILERS (32-33-7): Leon Draisaitl (91 points this season) continued his career season Sunday by scoring his team-high 43rd goal, giving him seven in his last 11 games, and is two points shy of 300. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (59 points) needs one goal to match his career high of 24 set in 2014-15 and matched in 2017-18 after scoring Sunday for the third time in six contests. Mikko Koskinen (22-17-4, 2.85 goals-against average, .909 save percentage) has started the last four games, including back-to-back contests Saturday (3-2 overtime victory at Arizona) and Sunday, going 2-2-0 with an .875 SP during that span.

ABOUT THE BLUES (37-27-8): The club is 1-2-2 since Vladimir Tarasenko (28 goals) suffered an elbow injury and is expected to re-evaluate their top scorer in the next couple days. David Perron (18 goals, 37 points) extended his point streak to 15 games Sunday and has a goal and an assist in two games since missing 24 with a concussion. Brayden Schenn (14 goals, 45 points) had a goal versus Buffalo after missing the scoresheet for three games, giving him three goals and six points in seven March contests.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis rookie G Jordan Binnington (17-4-1, 1.77, .931) is 2-2-0 with a 2.56 GAA and .908 SP in his last four starts.

2. McDavid, the two-time defending Art Ross Trophy winner, is second in the league with 105 points - 12 behind Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov - and needs four to reach a career high.

3. The road team has won each of the first two of three meetings this season with Schenn recording a goal and three assists, giving him 16 points in 14 games versus Edmonton.

PREDICTION: Blues 3, Oilers 2