The St. Louis Blues will try to extend their home winning streak to eight games when they host the New York Rangers on Saturday.
The Western Conference-leading Blues haven't lost a game at Enterprise Center since Dec. 7 and are 15-4-3 at home this season.
"We take a lot of pride in playing in front of our fans and in our town," Blues winger Alexander Steen told reporters after scoring twice Thursday night in a 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. "We want to make sure that it's a difficult place to play in, but in saying that, we don't really change much as far as on the road and at home. We want to have a consistent game and we try to focus as much as we can on ourselves and how we can get better."
The rebuilding Rangers are 1-4-1 in their last six road games. But they built momentum by beating the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 and the New Jersey Devils 6-3 at home.
"We've got a good thing going and we've got keep this going," Rangers forward Ryan Strome said.
"We're starting to get a little bit of an identity, defenseman Tony DeAngelo said after enjoying a five-point night against the Devils. "I think we feel pretty confident if we keep going like that, good things are going to keep coming."
Winger Artemi Panarin became the first Ranger to produce 60 points in his first 43 games with the team. Winger Chris Kreider has also been hot, scoring six goals and adding four assists in his last nine games.
The Rangers complicated their goaltending scenario by promoting Igor Shesterkin from the American Hockey League to join Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev.
"I think this is new for all of us," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "I think we're all going to figure out how to manage this. Again, there's really been no long-term conversation about what we're going to do moving forward, but this is just more about Igor getting an opportunity to play."
Shesterkin won his first two NHL starts. "When he sees the puck, he stops it," Strome said. "I think every goal he's let in so far has been kind of a fluky one. He's real confident in there -- looks like he's been doing it for a lot of years."
Overall, the Blues are 10-2-1 in their last 13 games. They continue to get balanced scoring in the absence of injured winger Vladimir Tarasenko.
The No. 3 line of Steen, Robert Thomas and Tyler Bozak collaborated on three goals Thursday night. Each player had three points in the game.
"We find each other, we know where each other are," Thomas said. "Steener as well on that line. You know he's such a smart player, always in the right spot, and he creates a lot of space for us down low. Just playing with those two is amazing."
Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington has won eight of his last nine starts, with his one loss coming in a 7-3 clunker at Colorado.
Defenseman Colton Parayko has missed his last three starts with an upper-body injury. He's listed as day-to-day and rookie Niko Mikkola has replaced him in the last two games.
--Field Level Media