(4-4-24) Blues-Predators Gameday Lineup

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- It's happened on multiple occasions the past several games, but for the St. Louis Blues, it's another important tilt on Thursday against the Nashville Predators.

The Blues (40-31-4) play their first game, as crazy as it sounds in April, at Bridgestone Arena today at 7 p.m. (HULU, ESPN+, ESPN 101.1-FM) against the Predators (43-28-4) with the chance to pull within four points of Nashville for the first wild card in the Western Conference.

"When this game was circled on the calendar, a month ago or whatever, you felt like this game was going to have meaning," Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. "It just kind of feels that way: Blues-Nashville, late season. It's a chance to go four back on them and put a little heat on. Both teams are going to be ready and it's going to be a hard, physical game."

That's what the Blues have to be prepared for, a hard-nosed, physical, in-your-face matchup.

Nashville already owns two wins against the Blues this season, 8-3 on November 24 and 5-2 on Feb. 17 that fueled the Predators' 18-game point streak (16-0-2).

"I think of regardless of where they were in the standings, I think for us, it would be an important game," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "Looking at where we are and of course L.A. where they are and Nashville has lost a few games here but they also won 14 or I don't even know what it was, I stopped counting after 14. They had a pretty good run there and for us, it's just taking care of our game, it's a tough place to play and we're going to have to goin there and play very well."

At the moment, the Blues trail the Los Angeles Kings by five points for the second wild card and the Predators, who have lost three straight since their point streak, by six points; each team has seven games remaining.

"They're a physical hockey team," Bannister said of the Predators. "They're big, their forwards lean on you, so you have to be ready for that tonight. We're going to have to bring an edge to our game and certainly playing direct hockey is going to be one big part for us.

"(Nashville plays) physical around our net, so there's going to be a lot of traffic, a lot of pucks go to our net. We're going to have to do a real good job of boxing out, controlling sticks and collapsing to our net front because they create a lot of offense by screens, deflections, rebounds, so there's going to be a lot of bodies there (tonight)."

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Looks like Kevin Hayes will be in the lineup tonight after the veteran forward missed practice Wednesday with the flu.

Hayes was on the ice for the morning skate.

"He seemed fine. It's more 24-48 hours," Bannister said of Hayes. "That's kind of what we saw over the past few weeks with certain guys that had it. I think once he gets in the game, the adrenaline gets going, he'll be fine."

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One change on defense seems imminent with Matthew Kessel being re-inserted into the lineup for Marco Scandella, who played on Monday in a 3-2 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers.

"I think right now, going in there, it gives us a lefty-righty combination," Bannister said. "Tucks is going to stay in the lineup. We thought he played hard for our team. He's going to get an opportunity to play here again and I think we're going to need him going into Nashville. It's a tough place to play and they play a heavy game.

"I don't have a problem with his physicality. It's one of the strengths to his game. He plays a heavy game down low and around the net. I don't foresee that being an issue with his game. It's the puck movement, playing direct, keeping things simple, not over-handling the puck with him."

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The Blues' projected lineup (could see another tweak or two):

Brandon Saad-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Alexey Toropchenko-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou

Kevin Hayes-Brayden Schenn-Kasperi Kapanen

Sammy Blais-Zach Dean-Nathan Walker

Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko

Torey Krug-Justin Faulk

Tyler Tucker-Matthew Kessel

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will bethe backup.

Healthy scratches could include Zack Bolduc, Marco Scandella, Scott Perunovich and Nikita Alexandrov. Oskar Sundqvist (torn right ACL) is out for the season.

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The Predators' projected lineup:

Filip Forsberg-Ryan O’Reilly-Gustav Nyquist

Jason Zucker-Colton Sissons-Anthony Beauvillier

Mark Jankowski-Tommy Novak-Luke Evangelista

Cole Smith-Michael McCarron-Kiefer Sherwood

Roman Josi-Ryan McDonagh

Spencer Stastney-Luke Schenn

Jeremy Lauzon-Alexandre Carrier

Juuse Saros will start in goal; Kevin Lankinen will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Cody Glass, Tyson Barrie and Dante Fabbro. The Predators report no injuries.