Alex Pietrangelo and the Blues host the Edmonton Oilers on Monday. (Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports)
ST. LOUIS -- The top two scorers in the NHL will be on the ice on Monday night when the Edmonton Oilers visit the St. Louis Blues.
Connor McDavid leads the league with 39 points so far this season while the Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko ranks second in the league with 37 points.
McDavid did not officially add to his point total on Saturday night, even though he scored the shootout goal which gave the Oilers a 3-2 victory at home over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tarasenko also was kept off the scoresheet on Saturday night for the first time in six games as the Blues could not hold four one-goal leads and lost 6-4 to the Chicago Blackhawks, only their second loss in regulation at home in 18 games this season. The Blues had earned at least one point in 14 consecutive home games, going 11-0-3.
McDavid has 12 goals and 27 assists but is in the midst of a scoring lull. He has not had a goal in his last four games and has just one assist over that span. Tarasenko has 15 goals and 22 assists this season. Prior to Saturday night, he had picked up 10 points in his previous five games on two goals and eight assists.
Scoring goals was not the problem for the Blues against the Blackhawks. It was their inability to keep Chicago players away from the front of the net, which put them in position for three of their goals.
It is a problem they will need to fix if they want to rebound against McDavid and the Oilers.
"Our execution 5-on-5 is good enough to beat certain teams, but if we want to play with the top dogs, we're going to have to execute at a higher level," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. "Our determination on our 1-on-1's is going to have to increase dramatically if we want to play with the big dogs."
What has helped the Oilers lately has been the play of center Leon Draisaitl, who had a goal and an assist on Saturday night and has 14 goals, two more than McDavid, this season.
"He's so important to our team right now," said coach Todd McLellan. "We still have some key people who are struggling to get on the scoreboard and Leon has been, maybe even more so that Connor, the guy who has been able to step up and fill that void of late. He's become an essential part of this team in a really short period."
The Blues will start backup Carter Hutton in goal, ending a streak of seven consecutive starts for Jake Allen. Hutton's last start came on Dec. 3. He will be looking for his first win since Nov. 5.
