Sharks at Blues: Lines, gamethread, and where to watch

In a huge game for both parties, the San Jose Sharks (44-23-9, 2nd Pacific) will visit the St. Louis Blues (42-28-5, 5th Central) for their second Central Division road game in as many nights. While the Sharks seem solidified in second place in their division thanks in no small part to an active eight game winning streak, the Blues are on a streak of their own: five wins and counting have set St. Louis just one point back of the Colorado Avalanche for the second Western Conference wild card spot with a game in hand.

Stop me if you've heard this before, but after selling a big piece of their roster at the trade deadline, the Blues continue to compete for a post season berth. This time around, goal tender Jake Allen isn't waiting for the first round to catch fire: with a record of 7-1-0 in his last eight, Allen has recorded a goals against average of 2.12 and a save percentage of .919. Further, his 3-0-0 record and his 1.00 GAA and .961 save percentage through three contests were good enough for the honor of the NHL's second star of this past week.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, the Blues are in the business of ending record setting winning streaks this month. St. Louis' most recent win, a 2-1 victory in Columbus, halted a ten game Blue Jackets winning streak that began on March 4 in San Jose. The two Western wild card spots are up for grabs, and one of the Blues, Avalanche, or Los Angeles Kings will be left out, so every two points are huge for St. Louis.

The Sharks' eight game streak has done little to close the gap with the first place Vegas Golden Knights, still six points ahead, but it's opened up a symmetrical six point gap with the third place Anaheim Ducks. Extending that streak to nine would do more than pressure the Knights, it would tie the Sharks' second longest streak in franchise history, last achieved in December 2008. Head coach Peter DeBoer's assertion that most of the credit for the streak should go to goaltender Martin Jones could be put to the test tonight, as Aaron Dell is likely to start. The Sharks had no morning skate today, however, so that's far from certain.

After an occasionally exciting 4-3 shoot out win over the tragic Blackhawks in Chicago last night, the Sharks will need to dig deep to come out atop a desperate Blues team tonight.

Go get 'em.

Sharks Lines

Evander Kane -- Joe Pavelski -- Melker Karlsson

Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Mikkel Boedker

Timo Meier -- Chris Tierney -- Kevin Labanc

Jannik Hansen -- Barclay Goodrow -- Joel Ward

Paul Martin -- Brent Burns

Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun

Brenden Dillon -- Dylan DeMelo

Aaron Dell

Martin Jones

Scratched: Tim Heed, Marcus Sorensen

Injured: Joe Thornton (knee), Joonas Donskoi (upper body), Eric Fehr (lower body), Joakim Ryan (upper body)

Again, no morning skate for our boys tonight so they can rest up for the evening's festivities, so treat these as a hypothesis until closer to puck drop.

Blues Lines

Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko

Patrik Berglund -- Kyle Brodziak -- Alexander Steen

Dmitrij Jaskin -- Vladimir Sobotka -- Tage Thompson

Ivan Barbashev -- Oskar Sundqvist -- Chris Thorburn

Joel Edmundson -- Alex Pietrangelo

Vince Dunn -- Colton Parayko

Jordan Schmaltz -- Robert Bortuzzo

Jake Allen

Carter Hutton

Scratched: Scottie Upshall

Injured: Nikita Soshnikov (upper body)

According to head coach Mike Yeo, Upshall is healthy, but will need a few more practices before he's ready for game action.

Where to watch

Broadcast: NBCSCA, FS-MW

Stream: NHL.tv / NHL App

Radio: 98.5 KFOX / NHL App / Sharks App