(4-12-24) Hurricanes-Blues Gameday Lineup

ST. LOUIS -- Going into Game 80 on Friday against the Carolina Hurricanes, the St. Louis Blues continue to hang on by a thread.

That's the margin for error in the Blues' quest to remain alive in the Western Conference wild card chase.

The Blues (42-32-5) will try to remain relevant and alive when they host the Carolina Hurricanes (50-22-7) at 7 p.m. (BSMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

The formula is simple for the Blues and is outlined as follows: if they lose in any fashion and the Golden Knights defeat the Minnesota Wild tonight in any fashion, Vegas clinches the final Western Conference playoff spot, or if the Blues lose in regulation and Vegas defeats Minnesota in overtime or shootout, that seals the Blues' fate.

Anything else will keep the Blues alive heading into their final home game on Sunday against the Seattle Kraken.

"It's business as usual for us," Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. "I think we've been playing in these meaningful games for two months, six weeks, however it may have been. I feel like we've played really good hockey against top teams. That hasn't been an issue for us, making sure that we're ready to play from the start and playing a complete game. We have to be ready to play a complete game here tonight."

The fact Carolina still has a division title to play for and/or a top seed in the Eastern Conference makes it doubly tough tonight.

"We know where they're at and we know it's a good hockey team," Bannister said. "They skate, they compete and we're going to have to skate and compete here tonight to be able to stay with them.

"Their size and the way they close, there's not going to be a lot of space out there for us tonight. We're going to have to compete for our space, we're going to have to support each other. We're going to have to simplify our game. We might just have to chip a lot of pucks off the wall and make sure that we're supporting and get pucks behind their 'D' because they're going to be aggressive on us here tonight, whether it's on the walls or through the neutral zone."

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Torey Krug did not take part in the morning skate and will be out tonight with an upper-body injury, replaced in the lineup by Marco Scandella.

Krug left Wednesday's 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks after the second period and did not return; he also did not practice Thursday.

"I would say he's day to day," Bannister said. "Just out for today and we'll see how he feels tomorrow and we'll see how he feels tomorrow and that will dictate obviously with the early game on Sunday, it'll be important for him to be feeling well enough to be playing in that game. Hopefully he can get on the ice and skate with us tomorrow afternoon."

Scandella will play with Tyler Tucker, and Nick Leddy will play alongside Matthew Kessel for the first time, although Bannister said the d-pairings can be fluid.

"I think tonight against a team like Carolina, I don't know if we're going to be stuck with d-pairings," Bannister said. "I think there's probably going to be some movement around there today. It's a little bit different animal than Chicago was. We like the way [Colton] Parayko and 'Perun' [Scott Perunovich] play together and now it gives us an idea, and Scandella and Tucker have played together. This is the first time that they'll play here together."

The forward lines will remain the same as Wednesday, meaning Kevin Hayes will be a healthy scratch for the second straight game and third time in four games.

"I liked the way they played," Bannister said. "I've liked the way they've played over the last two games that we've had, especially in our bottom six last game. I thought that grouping was very good for us."

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Jake Neighbours also did not practice Friday and will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. And it's unlikely, even with a practice day on Saturday, that Neighbours, who has 27 goals, to be available for Sunday's home finale against the Kraken, which makes one wonder if the Blues shut him down the rest of the regular season like Justin Faulk (upper body injury).

"I don't want to go that far, but I think we're leaning more towards ... just with the timeline, a 12 o'clock game on a Sunday, it's a lot to ask a player coming off an injury to skate once, if he skates tomorrow too," Bannister said of Neighbours. "Obviously if he doesn't skate tomorrow, he will not be available to us. But it's still a big ask for a player skating once and trying to get into a noon game."

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Oskar Sundqvist (torn right ACL) was at the rink watching practice on crutches, so he's had his surgery completed and not the timeline for recovery and rehab will begin for the Blues forward.

Sundqvist was injured in the second period of a 2-1 overtime loss against the Golden Knights on March 25.

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The Blues' projected lineup:

Zack Bolduc-Robert Thomas-Brayden Schenn

Brandon Saad-Pavel Buchnevich-Jordan Kyrou

Alexey Toropchenko-Zach Dean-Kasperi Kapanen

Nathan Walker-Nikita Alexandrov-Sammy Blais

Scott Perunovich-Colton Parayko

Nick Leddy-Matthew Kessel

Marco Scandella-Tyler Tucker

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

The healthy scratch includes Kevin Hayes. Justin Faulk (upper body) is week to week; Jake Neighbours (upper body) and Torey Krug (upper body) each is day to day but out tonight; Oskar Sundqvist (torn right ACL) is out for the season.

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The Hurricanes' projected lineup:

Jake Guentzel-Sebastian Aho-Seth Jarvis

Jordan Martinook-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Martin Necas

Andrei Svechnikov-Jordan Staal-Teuvo Teravainen

Stefan Noesen-Jack Drury-Jesper Fast

Jaccob Slavin-Brent Burns

Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce

Dmitry Orlov-Jalen Chatfield

Frederik Andersen is projected to start in goal; Pyotr Kochetkov would be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Brendan Lemieux, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Tony DeAngelo, Scott Morrow, Spencer Martin and Bradly Nadeau. The Hurricanes report no injuries.