ST. LOUIS -- No rest for the weary when it comes to the St. Louis Blues (26-20-2), who wrap up their pre-All-Star schedule today before heading into their break against the Columbus Blue Jackets (15-24-10) at 7 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM) at Enterprise Center.
The Blues have won five in a row, they're a season-high six games over .500 and in a wildcard spot in the Western Conference, and they're playing a team below them in the standings for the first time this month.
They're 8-3-1 playing against some tough competition in January, but now face an opponent below them in the standings in no position to take anyone lightly.
"I just think we've come too far, we've worked too hard to get ourselves to this position to not be ready for tonight," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "It shouldn't matter who we're playing. Our break ends after the game here tonight, so we've got to make sure that we're ready to start.
"I think the team learned a lot about themselves and what it takes to have success here moving forward that we can be very competitive against good hockey teams and win hockey games and keep ourselves in the mix here for a playoff spot. So going into tonight, tonight's another important game for us leading into the break where one, we can kind of take a break mentally but physically rest our bodies a little bit and get ready for the stretch run."
The Blues are in a cluster when it comes to the wild card race, currently tied with the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators, who play each other on Wednesday, with 54 points. So it makes tonight's matchup all that much more important.
And on top of it, the Blues lost 5-2 at Columbus on Dec. 8.
"It doesn't matter. We went into their building and lost the last time we played them," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said of the Blue Jackets. We owe them one. Our turn to win one in our building and we're not going to change our mindset too much. We can't change the way we're playing just based off the team we're playing. Got to play the same way if we're playing the first place team or last place team. For us, the mindset doesn't change."
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Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich had an MRI on his injured left leg on Monday and he will not play tonight.
"He'll be out tonight. Will be re-evaluated when we come back off our break," Bannister said. "Lower-body injury that happened in the third period. Once we get back, we'll get a better idea where he's at, at that time.
"Any time a player goes out with an injury, it's not good news. But I think it's kind of what we thought it would be. We keep him out for a little bit of time here."
In Perunovich's place, Tyler Tucker, who was recalled on Sunday from Springfield of the American Hockey League when he went down on a conditioning stint, will play for the first time since Dec. 21.
Also, defenseman Justin Faulk (lower-body injury) will not play, and forward Kasperi Kapanen, who has missed six games with a lower-body injury, took part in the morning skate on Tuesday but will not play.
Bannister already said they were hopeful both Faulk and Kapanen would skate through the All-Star break and hopeful to return when the team resumes practicing on Feb. 8.
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The Blues announced Tuesday afternoon that forward Mackenzie MacEachern will undergo season-ending surgery to repair an injury to his right shoulder.
MacEachern sustained the injury during the Thunderbirds’ 6-1 win over Charlotte on Jan. 27. He is expected to be ready for training camp in September.
MacEachern, 29, has played in 34 games for the Thunderbirds this season and has 19 points (six goals, 13 assists); he had one assist with the Blues this season.
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The Blues' projected lineup:
Pavel Buchnevich-Robert Thomas-Jordan Kyrou
Brandon Saad-Brayden Schenn-Jake Neighbours
Alexey Toropchenko-Kevin Hayes-Nathan Walker
Nikita Alexandrov-Oskar Sundqvist-Sammy Blais
Nick Leddy-Colton Parayko
Torey Krug-Matthew Kessel
Marco Scandella-Tyler Tucker
Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.
The healthy scratch includes Adam Gaudette. Justin Faulk (lower body), Kasperi Kapanen (lower body) and Scott Perunovich (lower body).
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The Blue Jackets' projected lineup:
Johnny Gaudreau-Boone Jenner-Yegor Chinakhov
Kent Johnson-Dmitri Voronkov-Kirill Marchenko
Alexandre Texier-Cole Sillinger-Jack Roslovic
Justin Danforth-Sean Kuraly-Mathieu Olivier
Zach Werenski-Andrew Peeke
Ivan Provorov-Damon Severson
Jake Bean-Erik Gudbranson
Elvis Merzlikins will start in goal; Daniil Tarasov will be the backup.
Healthy scratches include Emil Bemstrom and Nick Blankenburg. Adam Boqvist (upper body) and Adam Fantilli (leg laceration) are out.
