Game Day: Preds vs. Blues Preview

The Nashville Predators have spent the last four days giving back to their community and putting work in at practice; now, they're ready to get back in the win column as they take on the St. Louis Blues Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN+/Hulu.

Head Coach John Hynes said to expect "a couple tweaks" to Nashville's line combinations in Thursday's game, particularly on defense in light of Mark Borowiecki being sidelined with an upper body injury he suffered Saturday vs. Philadelphia. Here's everything you need to know as the Preds look to snap their five-game skid:

Line 'Em Up

Below are Nashville's lines from Saturday's game vs. Philadelphia:
Forsberg - Granlund - Duchene
Trenin - Johansen - Niederreiter
Smith - Sissons - Jeannot
Tolvanen - Glass - McCarron
Josi - Fabbro
McDonagh - Ekholm
Borowiecki - Carrier
Saros

The Good Guys

Mikael Granlund has opened 2022-23 with a team-high six assists in his first seven games. It's the 11th instance of a player in franchise history recording at least six assists in the team's first seven games of a season; the last to do so was Roman Josi in 2021-22 (6a). Granlund became the first Preds player to post a multi-assist performance this season (2a) on Oct. 18 vs. Los Angeles. His career-high 53 assists last season are the most by a center and the third-most overall in a season in Predators history.
Nino Niederreiter, who signed as a free agent with Nashville in July, leads the team with four goals in his first seven games with the Predators to begin 2022-23. He recorded his first assist with the team on Oct. 20 at Columbus. He scored Nashville's first power-play goal of the season on Oct. 15 at Dallas, ensuring him of at least one goal on the man advantage in each of his last 10 seasons.
Tanner Jeannot (1g-1a), Colton Sissons (2a) and Yakov Trenin (1g-1a) combined for six points on Oct. 20 at Columbus. Jeannot has three points (2g-1a) in his last three games after scoring his first goal of the season on Oct. 18 vs. Los Angeles. Then, playing in his 102nd career NHL game on Oct. 20 against the Blue Jackets, Jeannot recorded his 50th career NHL point with his second goal in as many games. Sissons also has three points (3a) in his last three games, and Trenin recorded his first two points of the season against the Blue Jackets.

The Other Guys

The Blues enter Thursday's game with a 3-4-0 record, coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday.
Justin Faulk and Robert Thomas have each scored a team-high four goals for the Blues, while Vladimir Tarasenko leads his team with six points (2g-4a). Jordan Binnington's 1.65 GAA ranks third among all NHL goaltenders.

All-Time Meetings

The Predators are 59-47-(4)-12 all-time against the Blues, including a 32-19-(3)-7 record at Bridgestone Arena. This is the first of four matchups between Nashville and St. Louis in 2022-23; it is the first of two at home.
Nashville went 1-3-0 vs. St. Louis last season, earning a 4-3 overtime victory on the road on Nov. 11.

Notables vs. St. Louis

• Zach Sanford won the 2019 Stanley Cup as a member of the Blues. He played parts of four seasons with St. Louis from 2017-21, recording 71 points (36g-35a) in 183 games.
• Roman Josi has 25 points (5g-20a) in 44 career meetings with the Blues.
• Ryan Johansen has points in seven of his last 12 games vs. St. Louis, recording four goals and six assists. He has 26 points (11g-15a) in 37 career games against the Blues.
• Mikael Granlund recorded his first career four-assist game on Nov. 11, 2021 at St. Louis.
• Juuse Saros recorded his first career NHL shutout on Dec. 30, 2016 at St. Louis.
• Predators Assistant Coach Dan Hinote played three seasons with the Blues from 2006-09, posting 25 points (11g-14a) in 150 games.
• Predators Assistant General Manager, Director of Player Development and Milwaukee Admirals General Manager Scott Nichol concluded his NHL career by playing two seasons in St. Louis from 2011-13, skating in 110 games.

Last Time Out

Nashville moved to 1-2-1 at Bridgestone Arena this season with Saturday's loss to Philadelphia. The Predators had a season-high 75 shot attempts and edged the Flyers in shots on goal, 32-25.
Matt Duchene tallied Nashville's second power play goal of the season, and Filip Forsberg recorded his first power-play point of 2022-23 with an assist on Duchene's goal. Colton Sissons won all 12 of his faceoffs, and Ryan Johansen went 15-for-20 (75 percent) in the face-off circle.

Watch & Listen

Thursday's game will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+/Hulu with Mike Monaco, Kevin Weekes and Hilary Knight on the call.
Pete Weber and Hal Gill will call the game on ESPN 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network with pregame, postgame and intermission coverage by Max Herz. The game will also be broadcast in Spanish on El Jefe which airs on 96.7 FM, 105.3 FM and 810 AM.