Predators score 8, defeat Blues for 4th straight win

ST. LOUIS -- Ryan O'Reilly scored for the Nashville Predators in an 8-3 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Friday in his first game against the Blues since he was traded from them last season.

O'Reilly, who spent five seasons with St. Louis (2018-23) and won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs in 2019 before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 17, signed a four-year contract with the Predators on July 1.

"Obviously, it was such a special time here," said O'Reilly, who received a video tribute at the first timeout in the first period. "It was such a nice thing for the Blues to do. I got a painting, too, from them before the game as well. Such a great organization. Everything they've done for me.

"Coming here I think really changed my career around. I can't thank the organization, the staff enough for being so great to me. It was a pretty great welcome back. It was definitely emotional. It was just an amazing time. An amazing tribute."

Filip Forsberg and Luke Evangelista each scored twice and had an assist, and Kiefer Sherwood had a goal and two assists for the Predators (9-10-0), who have won four straight. Kevin Lankinen made 36 saves.

"It's nice to see guys get goals and feel good about themselves," Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. "When we do the right things and things we talk about, when you have the puck, you'll have some fun. The game swayed our way early."

Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich each had a goal and an assist for St. Louis (10-8-1), which had won two in a row. Joel Hofer allowed four goals on 15 shots before being pulled in the second period. Jordan Binnington allowed four goals on 20 shots in relief.

"(Lack of) execution for sure," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "I liked our start the first five, six minutes. They get a goal, (then) I think we kind of froze. They put it in there and then we jump in our [defensemen], trying to poke a puck at the offensive line, give up an odd-man rush and they score again. I think we unraveled or whatever after that. But puck play and puck battles for me were not very good today."

The Predators scored twice in 28 seconds when Forsberg gave them a 1-0 lead at 6:57 of the first period on a loose puck near the goal line Hofer thought he had covered up but didn't, and Yakov Trenin made it 2-0 at 7:25 off a 3-on-1 that Hofer inadvertently kicked into his own net. A video review confirmed that the puck had completed crossed the goal line.

Evangelista made it 3-0 at 13:53 when a pass caromed off a skate in the slot to him at the side of the net.

"I think we just got to be mentally tougher," St. Louis defenseman Justin Faulk said. "It's going to happen. We can't, if we get scored on first or second too, make us change our game. The game plan stays the same. It has to. We have to play out the whole 60 minutes. Leads change all the time. It is what it is. Stats probably say the team that scores first has the better chance, but it's not every night and you've got to just buy in and go, play a hard game."

Buchnevich cut it to 3-1 at 16:32 scoring off a pass from Marco Scandella.

Spencer Stastney's first NHL goal made it 4-1 at 2:45 of the second period on a wrist shot from the slot. Hofer was pulled after the goal.

"One of my earliest games I saw was the [Blackhawks] playing the Blues here and I was thinking about that before the game," Stastney said. "To score out here now is pretty cool.

"I had a tough gap. The puck just rolled around the boards. I joined. Evangelista made a great pass. I shot from the point. I don't know if that's going to go in on my stick all the time, but today it did. I feel fortunate."

O'Reilly scored on a 5-on-3 power-play at 4:46 for a 5-1 lead on a backdoor tap-in.

"Scoring the goal, yeah, that felt great," O'Reilly said. "... It was an unbelievable play by Filip to hit me backdoor. When you score against your old team, it always feels good."

Evangelista made it 6-1 at 6:00 on a second attempt from the slot after his initial shot was blocked.

Thomas cut it to 6-2 at 10:17 with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Forsberg gave Nashville a 7-2 lead at 17:29 on a quick shot from the slot, his ninth goal in seven games.

Jake Neighbours scored St. Louis' first power-play goal at home this season when he tipped in Torey Krug's point shot at 5:23 of the third period to make it 7-3. The Blues had been 0-for-18 at home with the man-advantage.

Sherwood scored to make it 8-3 at 12:42.

"It's obviously a way better feeling," Evangelista said. "Just showing up at the rink in times of the slump versus now, it's night and day. We're having a ton of fun. We're looking to stay hot."

NOTES: Forsberg has 38 points (17 goals, 21 assists) in 36 games against the Blues. ... O'Reilly has seven points (three goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak; he had 269 points (97 goals, 172 assists) in 327 regular-season games for St. Louis. ... Predators forward Gustav Nyquist had an assist to give him nine points (one goal, eight assists) in a seven-game point streak. ... Thomas has 20 points (six goals, 14 assists) in 17 games against Nashville. ... Blues forward Brandon Saad had an assist in 15:14 of ice time in his 800th NHL game.