St. Louis Blues (3-3-1, 7 pts.) vs. Nashville Predators (2-2-3, 7 pts.)
7 p.m. CT | Bridgestone Arena | Buy Tickets
Watch: Scripps Sports/The Spot - Nashville 28; PredsTV App (in-market); ESPN+ (out-of-market)
Listen: 102.5 The Game, Preds Radio Network; El Jefe
Live Stats: GameCenter
...
A three-game homestand concludes tonight for the Nashville Predators when they host the St. Louis Blues for a 7 p.m. CT puck drop at Bridgestone Arena. This evening’s contest is the first of four meetings between the division rivals this season.
The Preds made a dramatic comeback when they tied Thursday’s game with less than one second to play in regulation time, but they eventually fell to San Jose in a shootout. Now, with points in five of their seven games thus far, Nashville will look for their first win of their homestand against a Blues team that is coming off a 5-4 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.
“I think we're very well aware of where we want to be and how we want to begin the year, so I think we're putting a little bit [of] added pressure on ourselves,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said following Thursday’s loss. “For sure there’s disappointment, but we just pick ourselves up and go back to work. You stacked a point out of it, and you build to the next game. Still some things we got to clean up, especially moving pucks up the ice. I still don't think we're quite where we need to be - it's a work in progress.”
Prior to Thursday’s game, the Preds reassigned goaltender Matt Murray to Milwaukee and activated netminder Justus Annunen off Injured Reserve. Annunen backed up Saros against the Sharks.
Preds forward Mavrik Bourque remained out with an upper-body injury; defensemen Jack Ahcan and Ilya Lyubushkin were scratched.
The Predators held a practice with limited participation on Friday morning; Bourque was among the participants.
Last Time Out:
Ryan O’Reillly scored on the power play before Steven Stamkos tied Thursday’s game with 0.8 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime against the Sharks. Juuse Saros made 30 saves through 65 minutes before allowing a single shootout goal.
Per NHL Stats, Roman Josi assisted on Nashville’s first goal to reach 786 career points. He needs one to tie Borje Salming (787) for the fifth-most among defensemen born outside North America in NHL history.
Stamkos became the first player in NHL history with two game-tying goals in the final second of regulation.
Stamkos leads the Preds with four goals and eight points, followed by Josi with six assists and seven points. O’Reilly, Adam Edström and Nils Höglander have three goals apiece, and Filip Forsberg has six assists.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 67-53-(4)-13 all-time against the Blues, including a 37-21-(3)-7 mark at home. Nashville is 5-5-0 in their last 10 versus St. Louis and 3-2-0 in their last five meetings at Bridgestone Arena.
Ryan O’Reilly played 327 games for St. Louis from 2018-23, recording 269 points (97g-172a). He won the 2019 Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe with the Blues.
Juuse Saros recorded his first career NHL shutout on Dec. 30, 2016 at St. Louis.
Nashville has won 20 of its last 35 games against St. Louis – including 18 of its last 32 – and has scored at least four goals in 16 of those wins, including three victories this past season.
The Predators advanced to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history in 2017 after defeating the Blues in the second round, 4-2.
Nashville Notables:
The Predators power play ranks sixth in the NHL, operating at 26.9 percent (7-for-26). Steven Stamkos (2), Ryan O’Reilly (2), Nils Hoglander (1), Matthew Wood (1), and Jonathan Marchessault (1) have scored for Nashville with the man advantage.
Roman Josi’s assist on Thursday was his 582nd in his career, passing Dave Babych for the 25th-most in League history by a defenseman.
Watch & Listen:
New this season, Preds fans can watch all locally broadcast Predators games on The Spot – Nashville 28 (WNPX) over the air with an antenna or on cable and satellite distributors serving the Predators territory.
Predators fans within the team’s TV viewing area can also stream 81 locally broadcast games for just $74 – less than $1 per game.
Nashville’s games will be streamed on the Nashville Predators App, which is available on the following devices:
- iOS/Android
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Roku
- Web via PredsTV.com
The season pass also includes access to on-demand game replays and exclusive content, such as “Inside Smashville,” a weekly magazine show that launches Friday, Oct. 2 on The Spot – Nashville 28 and Predators streaming platforms.
In addition to 81 of the team’s regular-season games being available on The Spot – Nashville 28 and via the Nashville Predators App stream, the remaining three contests will be exclusively broadcast on ESPN+.
Click here for more information on streaming and viewing options.
Fans may also listen on 102.5 The Game, the Preds Radio Network and El Jefe Radio.
