BLUES Tyler Bozak scored the game-winning goal in the third period and Jordan Binnington recorded a 19-save shutout - his fifth in 18 starts - to help the Blues to a 2-0 victory against the Central Division-leading Nashville Predators on Tuesday night at Enterprise Center.
The win moved the Blues to 13-1-1 in their last 15 games and pulled them within five points of the division lead.
"We were good tonight right off the bat, hot start," said Binnington. "A couple chances didn't go our way, we didn't get it home, but we stayed with it the whole game and finally in the end there, (Tyler Bozak) put one home. So yeah, it was a good finish for us."
The Blues played Tuesday's game without Brayden Schenn and David Perron, who are dealing with injuries. Alexander Steen also missed the game due to an illness.
Blues Head Coach Craig Berube said he wasn't sure of Schenn's status for Friday's game, but he did say Alexander Steen was expected to be back. Perron did not make the trip.
HURRICANES The Carolina Hurricanes scored six times Tuesday to beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-1 at PNC Arena.
Teuvo Teravainen had a goal and three assists, Dougie Hamilton had two goals and an assist and Jordan Staal netted three helpers for Carolina, who won their sixth consecutive game.
"When we're getting pucks in and forechecking and our forwards just buzzing, it's really hard to play against," Hamilton told NHL.com. "It's a lot of fun for us."
"We just worked pretty hard," Teravainen added. "We got a lot of loose pucks and turned the puck over from them. I think that's how we got all our chances."
Sebastian Aho, who leads the Hurricanes with 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists) this season, has 25 points (nine goals, 16 assists) in his last 20 games.
HEAD-TO-HEAD Through 63 games, the Blues and Hurricanes have the exact same record (34-23-6, 74 points). The Blues are third in the Central Division, while the Hurricanes are third in the Metropolitan Division.
Friday's matchup will be the second and final meeting between the teams in the regular season. The Blues won the first meeting 4-1 back on Nov. 6 in St. Louis.
The Blues have won four straight games against the Hurricanes and are 10-4-1 in their last 15 meetings.
Carolina leads the league in shots against per game (28.0), while the Blues rank fourth with 28.9.
