Blues at Penguins
The St. Louis Blues look to finish their six-game road trip on a high note when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. St. Louis opened the trek with consecutive victories before falling for the third straight time (0-1-2) with a 2-1 overtime loss to Detroit on Sunday afternoon. Alex Steen scored the Blues' lone goal versus the Red Wings but has just one in 17 career meetings with the Penguins.
Pittsburgh snapped its four-game skid with a 3-1 triumph over Arizona on Saturday. Evgeni Malkin has been sidelined for four consecutive contests with an upper-body injury but was able to skate in Sunday's practice, prompting coach Mike Johnston to express a bit of optimism about the former Hart Trophy winner possibly returning on Tuesday. "(Malkin), it might be 50-50 (on Tuesday) or a little bit longer shot," Johnston said. "It's hard for me to tell because I want to see how the trainers feel that he reacted to the ice session today, the limited amount that he did."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, TVA, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), ROOT (Pittsburgh)
ABOUT THE BLUES (45-21-7): St. Louis, which is nursing a one-point lead over second-place Nashville in the Central Division, may need to play its second straight game without Carl Gunnarsson. The defenseman suffered an upper-body injury in Saturday's 6-3 setback to Minnesota and sat out the afternoon tilt versus the Red Wings as well as Monday's practice. Coach Ken Hitchcock admitted Gunnarsson felt better on Monday despite not skating with the club but still deemed him a game-time decision.
ABOUT THE PENGUINS (40-22-10): While Malkin is questionable to return on Tuesday, general manager Jim Rutherford announced fellow forward Pascal Dupuis will not play again this season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his lung on Nov. 19. "Based on the doctor's report, I don't believe we'll see Pascal this year, and that's a big loss," Rutherford said. "He's not going to be cleared to play until June." Injuries have limited the 35-year-old Dupuis to just 55 games since the start of the 2013-14 season.
OVERTIME
1. Pittsburgh LW Blake Comeau collected two goals and an assist in the team's 4-2 victory over St. Louis on Feb. 21.
2. Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko recorded two assists in the first meeting.
3. Pittsburgh RW Patric Hornqvist (undisclosed) is expected to miss his fourth straight contest.