Preds Debut Hometown Remix Jerseys, Beat Blues to Win Fourth Straight

Look good, feel good. 

Sporting their Hometown Remix jerseys for the first time, the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues by a 3-1 final on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The result extends Nashville's win streak to four games and gives them their second victory over the Blues this season. 

Steven Stamkos, Ross Colton and Nick Perbix tallied for Nashville on the day, and Juuse Saros made 25 saves for his fifth win of the season. Saturday delivered a game the Preds say wasn’t their best, but they still added two more points in the standings. 

“When you're feeling good heading into games as a group with the way that we played - I didn't think it was our best in the last couple of games - but [Saros] was there when we had some breakdowns,” Stamkos said. “These are the games that you need to win, right? When you're at home, you're about to go on a long road trip, you’ve got to take advantage of that, and I thought we did. Pretty good third period as well in terms of having a one-goal lead, going into the third and shutting it down, and doing a lot better job of limiting scoring chances.”

“I thought the guys showed a lot of maturity in the game,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “Probably wasn't our best, but we found ways to win the game. When we had a few breakdowns, [Saros] made some unbelievable saves… But a real gutsy win. And again, it's shown growth in our group.”

After the Blues struck first on the man advantage, Stamkos responded with a power-play goal of his own, and the 248th of his career to take sole possession of fifth place in NHL history. 

“He's passing guys every night it feels like, which is great for us, and really happy for him,” Brunette said of Stamkos. “Obviously, everything we've kind of gone through, and he's gone through…this is his team now. You can feel it. He rises to those big moments, and he's feeling it right now. He's having fun playing hockey, I believe, and their line has been really good, and the power play's been exceptional.”

In the second stanza, it was Colton who potted his third tally in as many games to give the Preds their first lead of the afternoon, and that was all they’d need. St. Louis had their chances down the stretch, but Saros held firm before Perbix iced it into an empty net. 

“It wasn't the prettiest game, but I think we're just doing a good job buying into the system,” Colton said. “I think we're forming an identity here. The defense is playing super well back there. We're getting really good goaltending, and as a group, when we just played north-south direct, don't turn pucks over; we obviously have a good group of guys in here that know how to win games. It starts with the leadership and the goaltending. It's been awesome.”

The Predators have continued to build their identity in the first month-plus of the season, and with a successful week now behind them, the belief in the Nashville room is growing. 

“Confidence in any aspect of life is something that you strive for,” Stamkos said. “It's hard to get and easy to lose sometimes. When you have it, you just try to keep that snowball rolling. It's contagious; you could tell in the room, whether it's the amazing goaltending, the special teams, the D, the forwards, everyone is doing their job, right? Everyone has a role on this team, and they're doing their job. That's what really good teams have, and we feel we're a good team.”

A five-game trip is ahead for the Preds beginning Tuesday in Los Angeles, so collecting one more win at home beforehand was ideal. The group did just that, and now they'll look to take that confidence out west.  

“Vibes are high,” Colton said. “We’ve got to keep building. [Stamkos] has been preaching it, [Brunette has too], and it's a special group of guys in here, and we all want to win. That's one thing, we're going to bring it every night. The energy is always there. And again, we have a tough road trip coming up here. It was nice to stack some points, build some vibes before we go on a little bit of a long road trip here.”

Notes: 

Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Saturday with Jonathan Marchessault remaining day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Defensemen Nic Hague and Ilya Lyubushkin were scratched. 

Per NHL Stats, Steven Stamkos scored his 130th career game-tying goal and surpassed Jaromir Jagr for the fifth most in NHL history behind Alex Ovechkin (155), Wayne Gretzky (139), Dave Andreychuk (137) and Joe Sakic (132). 

Roman Josi (0-2—2) collected two assists and moved within one point of 800 in his career (205-594—799 in 1,047 GP). He can become the first Swiss player and the fifth defenseman born outside North America to reach the milestone.

The Predators will begin a five-game roadtrip on Tuesday night in Los Angeles before making stops in Anaheim, Vegas, San Jose and Minnesota over the next 10 days. 

On Monday night in Toronto, former Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Stay tuned for complete coverage from the Hall, and watch the ceremony on Monday night starting at 6 p.m. CT on NHL Network.