NHL Game Preview - Boston at St. Louis

Sat Feb 23, 2019 4:00 PM EST

While the St. Louis Blues' historic winning streak has ended, the surging Boston Bruins keep rolling along.

The Blues on Saturday will look to rebound from their first loss in a month and keep the visiting Bruins from extending their season-high winning streak to eight games.

St. Louis went from underachiever to third in the Central Division thanks to a club-record 11-game winning streak that followed a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles on Jan. 21. The Blues outscored their opponents 43-16 and posted four shutouts during the streak.

The run ended with Thursday's 5-2 loss at Dallas. Ryan O'Reilly had a goal with an assist, and Vladimir Tarasenko scored for the ninth time in eight games, but the Blues couldn't overcome a 3-0 hole.

"The streak is over," O'Reilly told NHL.com. "We've got to reinvent ourselves every game and establish our game again."

St. Louis last dropped two straight on Jan. 15 and 17 -- the latter, 5-2 at Boston. The Blues are riding a season-high five-game home winning streak.

"It's going to be a tough one against Boston," said O'Reilly, who has four goals and six assists in the past seven games. "That's a really good team we're going to face."

While the Bruins' seven-game winning streak is the club's longest since taking 12 in a row in March 2014, they also have earned at least a point in 12 straight games since a 3-2 regulation defeat to the New York Rangers on Jan. 19.

Boston has also remained successful minus star David Pastrnak, who has been out since Feb. 10 with a thumb injury.

"We're being resilient right now, finding ways to win," forward Brad Marchand told the Bruins' official website.

That was the case in Wednesday's 3-2 shootout win at Vegas. Jake DeBrusk scored in his fifth straight game and Jaroslav Halak stopped 31 shots for his third consecutive victory. The Bruins have won a season-high four consecutive road games and earned at least a point in six straight away from home.

"When a team wins a lot of games in a row it's because everyone is pulling their own weight," Bruins coach Jack Cassidy told NHL.com.

Boston could get more of a boost with the expected Bruins debut Saturday of forward Charlie Coyle, a Massachusetts native. Acquired Wednesday from Minnesota for Ryan Donato and a 2019 draft pick, Coyle had 10 goals with 18 assists in 60 games for the Wild this season.

The Bruins' extended their point streak over St. Louis to four games with the January win. Chris Wagner had a goal and an assist, David Krejci recorded three assists and Tuukka Rask made 28 saves for Boston.

Krejci has eight assists and 10 points in the past five games. Rask, who could be in net to conclude Boston's five-game trip, has won six in a row.

O'Reilly scored at Boston in January and Jake Allen made 22 saves. Allen, who stopped 32 shots in a 3-0 win over Colorado in his most recent start last Saturday, could be in goal after Jordan Binnington's nine-game winning streak ended Thursday.

It's uncertain if Blues forward Brayden Schenn, who has 15 points in his last 14 games, will miss a second straight contest because of an upper-body injury.

--Field Level Media