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BLUES The Blues certainly made it interesting against the Minnesota Wild.
After a hat trick by Matt Boldy and goals by Kirill Kaprizov and Danila Yurov gave the Wild a 5-2 lead heading into the third period, the clock began ticking on any hopes of a St. Louis comeback. Robert Thomas scored his first goal of the season shorthanded with four minutes left to give the Blues life. With Joel Hofer pulled for an extra attacker, Dylan Holloway also scored his first goal of the season to reduce the deficit to 5-4, giving the Blues 15.3 seconds to clinch at least one point in the standings.
Unfortunately, time ran out on the team's valiant comeback effort.
Minnesota's top line - Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Boldy - made no mistake capitalizing on the uncharacteristic defensive miscues and odd-man rushes surrendered by the Blues in Thursday's loss.
"I liked our start but then we got into penalty trouble and we ended up down at the end of the first period," said Head Coach Jim Montgomery postgame. "The second period, I just didn't think we contained their top line well enough. They're very dangerous and they showed us why they're so dangerous. We made it too easy for them. I did like our fight to come back and still try and prevail in the game, came up a little short but it's nice to see us keep putting forth that effort."
Jonatan Berggren scored a power-play goal to give the Blues a 1- 0 lead early in the game, Mason McTavish scored his third goal in two games and Hofer made 33 saves on 38 shots. The penalty kill went 3-for-4 and Cam Fowler recorded three assists in the loss.
PREDATORS Last season the Nashville Predators finished just behind the Blues in the Central Division standings. Though both teams had 86 points - Nashville with a 38-34-10 record - St. Louis claimed fifth place because the Blues held more regulation wins. The Predators' last Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance was in the 2024 postseason, being eliminated in six games by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round.
The Predators are undergoing what you could call an "aggressive retool," with former Colorado Avalanche General Manager Chris MacFarland taking the helm as the Predators' GM, replacing Barry Trotz.
MacFarland hit the ground running with his new team, acquiring forward Ross Colton and goaltender Isak Poch, and forwards Jack Drury and Chase Bradley from the Avs in separate trade packages. The Predators also acquired forward Mavrik Borque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Dallas Stars in early July. Forwards Adam Edstrom and Nils Hoglander and defenseman Jayden Struble also join the Predators roster this season.
Nashville's most high-profile departure from the offseason was forward Luke Evangelista, who was traded to the New Jersey Devils for two draft picks. Additionally the Predators lost defenseman Justin Barron to the Blues after placing him on waivers. This will be Barron's first game against the Predators since joining St. Louis.
As the Predators work their way back to contention, they continue to build around their veteran players including Steven Stamkos, Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault, Roman Josi and former Blue Ryan O'Reilly. The team has started the season with a 2-2-3 record, most recently coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.
