Game Preview: St. Louis Blues vs. Detroit Red Wings

After a much-needed two-day break, the Detroit Red Wings return to action against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

This nationally televised game will be a big one for both teams in the race for the playoffs. The Red Wings find themselves seven points out of the final wild-card spot as the Columbus Blue Jackets have 69 points and a game in hand on the Wings. The Blues are just two points behind the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference for the last wild-card spot.

In the first meeting of the season at Little Caesars Arena, the Blues cruised to a 6-1 win over the Red Wings.

Recently, it has not been a good stretch of games for the Blues. The Central Division team has lost seven consecutive games, including an 8-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. They have only managed to score 10 goals during this stretch.

The Red Wings have won two games in a row after overcoming a three-game skid.

Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko have led the Blues this season with 56 and 55 points respectively. Tarasenko leads the way in goal scoring with an impressive 26 goals in 64 appearances.

Carter Hutton is the confirmed starter for the Blues on Wednesday night. The netminder has a record of 15-7-2.

For the Red Wings, Jimmy Howard was in the starter’s net during practice on Wednesday morning. He has started every game since the departure of Petr Mrazek to Philadelphia.

Andreas Athanasiou will be a player to watch as he has four points in his last four appearances.

Martin Frk is expected to be featured in the lineup as the Wings will play their first game since Tomas Tatar’s move to the Vegas Golden Knights. The forward has not played since Feb. 20th.

Mike Green will not be in the lineup, he is hoping to make his return this upcoming weekend.

How to Watch

When: Wednesday, Feb. 28-8:00 p.m.

Where: Scottrade Center-St. Louis, Missouri

How to Watch: NBCSN

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra