Vegas @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 16, 2018 ) St. Louis 4, Vegas 1

The St. Louis Blues host the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday in a matchup of playoff-bound Western Conference teams that have much in common. The third-place clubs are on the verge of clinching postseason berths and can still move into second place in their divisions as St. Louis, which has won three straight, sits two points behind Nashville in the Central while Vegas - 10-1-1 in its last 12 games - is five back of San Jose in the Pacific.

"We need to make a push," Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko told reporters after recording a goal and an assist in Saturday's 4-3 victory over league-best Tampa Bay. "Whatever other teams are playing doesn't matter, it's seven games left. Every point matters ... Just try to focus on our game." Vegas had its four-game winning streak snapped with a 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit on Saturday, perhaps suffering a letdown after crushing Central-leading Winnipeg 5-0 on Thursday. "We've been good for the last 10 or 11 (games), so sometimes it happens," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant told reporters. "We can be better ..." Monday's game could mark the return of Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury (second in the league with 35 wins), who has missed the last four contests with a lower-body injury and witnessed the birth of his son, James, on Friday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Vegas), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

ABOUT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS (42-27-6): Reilly Smith (18 goals, 51 points), who played his 500th game Saturday, has scored in three straight contests (four total) and owns nine points in his last four outings. Jonathan Marchessault (24 goals, 54 points) and William Karlsson (22, 51) - Smith's linemates - were kept off the scoresheet for the first time in four contests Saturday after the trio combined for 10 goals and 22 points in the previous three games. Max Pacioretty (lower body) did not play Saturday and remains day-to-day while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (undisclosed) has missed the last two contests.

ABOUT THE BLUES (40-27-8): Brayden Schenn (15 goals, 48 points) also had a goal and an assist versus Tampa Bay, giving him two goals and four points in his last four games. Tarasenko leads the club with 29 goals but has only two in his last 10 games while Ryan O'Reilly (26 goals, team-high 70 points) hasn't scored in eight contests with four assists during that span. Jordan Binnington (20-4-1, 1.84 goals-against average, .929 save percentage) has won four straight and needs two victories to match the club rookie record set by Jake Allen in 2014-15.

OVERTIME

1. St. Louis D Alex Pietrangelo needs one assist for 300 and eight points for 400 while Vegas' Smith is two points shy of 300.

2. The Blues are 14-for-14 on the penalty kill in their last seven games while Vegas is 3-for-20 on the power play during that span with all three coming in a 7-3 victory at San Jose on March 18.

3. St. Louis won the first two of three meetings this season - both in November - by a combined 9-4 with Oskar Sundqvist scoring three of his 14 goals in those games.

PREDICTION: Golden Knights 3, Blues 2