TEAM SNAPSHOTS
BLUES The St. Louis Blues added another win to their recent run on Tuesday night, beating the Philadelphia Flyers at home to go 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.
Jordan Binnington was impressive in goal, stopping 32 out of 34 shots to earn his 27th win of the season.
"I think it's so important to just remember that each shift matters," said Binnington. "(We'll) carry that with us as we finish this season and bring it with us to next season."
Binnington's 58 games played this season is the highest mark of his career, sharing No. 3 among all NHL goaltenders.
Jordan Kyrou added his team-leading 37th goal of the season to the winning effort, looking to become the first Blue since Vladimir Tarasenko in 2015-16 to post a 40-goal campaign. The 24-year-old forward is also three points shy of his career-best of 75 from last season and is hoping to reach both milestones with four games left.
Pavel Buchnevich looks good to go after missing four games with an upper-body injury. Robert Thomas, who was a game-time decision but did not play Tuesday, will not be available when the Blues host Vladimir Tarasenko and the New York Rangers on Thursday at Enterprise Center.
The Blues carry a record of 36-35-7, worth 79 points and sixth in the Central Division, into Thursday's game.
RANGERS In their pursuit of a deep Stanley Cup Playoff run, the New York Rangers made two major acquisitions ahead of the Trade Deadline - Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks and Tarasenko from the Blues.
The Rangers are 10-4-2 since bringing Kane in on Feb. 28, and their .688 points percentage ranks No. 7 in the NHL to slightly outpace their season points rate of .656.
In the process, they clinched a spot in the playoffs on March 27 and are likely to meet the New Jersey Devils or Carolina Hurricanes in the first round as the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division.
New York is coming off a 5-2 win over Washington in which they eliminated Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals from postseason contention for the first time since 2013-14. Artemi Panarin led the way with three assists, while Tarasenko scored a goal and Kane added one assist.
Before Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola make their return to St. Louis, the Rangers will face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first game of a back-to-back set, their last such of the regular season.
The Rangers will face the Bolts with a record of 45-21-11, worth 101 points and third in the Metropolitan Division ahead of their matchup with the Blues.
HEAD-TO-HEAD The Blues fell 6-4 at Madison Square Garden earlier this year, with the Rangers scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to flip the momentum in their favor. The Blues have won back-to-back games against the Rangers at Enterprise Center, outscoring New York 11-4 in those two matchups.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
BLUES Brayden Schenn, whose 42 assists this season matches his career high set in his first year as a Blue in 2017-18. Schenn has six points in his last five games and posted the fifth three-assist game of his career on Sunday vs. Boston.
RANGERS Vladimir Tarasenko, former Blue and 2019 Stanley Cup Champion, is playing his first game back at Enterprise Center since the Feb. 9 trade. Tarasenko has seven goals and nine assists in 26 games with the Rangers, including a three-point night against Philadelphia on March 1.
BLUE NOTES
Playing 644 games with the Blues, Tarasenko recorded 262 goals and 291 assists for 553 points across 11 seasons. He currently ranks No. 5 in points, No. 5 in goals and No. 7 in assists on the Blues all-time leaderboard. Tarasenko also posted 60 points in 90 playoff games with the franchise (No. 3 all-time) and tallied 17 points in 26 games en route to the 2019 Stanley Cup Championship... Niko Mikkola recorded 20 points and 101 penalty minutes in 139 games with the Blues, posting two assists in 26 games with the Rangers... Blues prospects Jimmy Snuggerud (University of Minnesota) and Dylan Peterson (Boston University) will face off against each other in the NCAA Frozen Four on Thursday at 4 p.m. CT.
An arena video tribute awaits former Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko when he returns to St. Louis for the first time with the New York Rangers on Thursday.
"It will be an emotional game, but we have a game (Wednesday), too, so it will be quick," Tarasenko told The Athletic. "I'm glad it's a back-to-back."
Tarasenko ranks fifth in career goals (262) for the Blues and fifth in career points (553). He spent 10 1/2 years in St. Louis and played a key role in the Blues' 2019 Stanley Cup run.
"Vladdy was here a long time," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "He did a lot of great things for the organization. He was part of the Cup-winning team. I always look forward to seeing those guys."
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong sent Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the Rangers on Feb. 9 for winger Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a fourth-round selection in 2024.
Rangers general manager Chris Drury targeted Tarasenko for the veteran's playoff experience in addition to his scoring touch.
Tarasenko said, "In St. Louis, we did a good job of building the team mindset about making playoffs. You're a young guy and you think you're going to be there every year. So I don't think you treat it as normal when you miss, like we did in 2018. And then we come back the next year with the right mindset, good team identity and we have success."
The Rangers (46-21-11, 103 points) are coming off a 6-3 home victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. New York has earned points in 13 of its past 15 games (11-2-2) and has won nine of its past 12 (9-2-1).
Since Dec. 5, the Rangers are 35-11-6 for 76 points.
The Blues (36-35-7, 79 points) defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Tuesday. They have earned points in nine of their past 11 games (7-2-2).
St. Louis expects former Rangers winger Pavel Buchnevich to be back in the lineup after he missed the past four games due to an upper-body injury. He will center the No. 2 line between Jakub Vrana and Jake Neighbours while continuing to learn a new position.
"(Buchnevich has) played well there for a guy who hasn't played that position since he was a kid," Berube said. "He's done really well. Now there's still things, timing and things like that, he's probably not satisfied with. Faceoffs, things like that that he wants to be better at. But it takes time."
Top Blues center Robert Thomas remains sidelined with an upper-body injury, so Brayden Schenn will center the top line between Brandon Saad and Jordan Kyrou.
Berube has been pleased with his fourth line of Alexey Toropchenko, Tyler Pitlick and Nathan Walker. Toropchenko has four goals in his past eight games, and the unit has shouldered more checking responsibility.
"They're going to go out and do the right things," Berube said. "They're going to pay a price to block shots, do all the things right to keep the puck out of our net."
For the Rangers, Patrick Kane missed the Wednesday game with a lower-body injury and defenseman Jacob Trouba exited the contest due to an upper-body injury in the first period.
The third-place Rangers sit three points behind the second-place New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division with four games remaining.
