Filip Forsberg scored twice and assisted, Juuse Saros made 44 saves, and the Nashville Predators defeated the St. Louis Blues 6-3 on Thursday to end a three-game losing streak. Roman Josi, Anthony Beauvillier, Michael McCarron, and Mark Jankowski also scored goals, with Gustav Nyquist providing three assists for Nashville.
“The game wasn’t our best effort,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We were on our heels a lot of the night, but we got great goaltending and special teams stepped up and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Brandon Saad, Jake Neighbours, and Jordan Kyrou scored for St. Louis, with Jordan Binnington making 25 saves. The Blues have lost two of their last three games.
“I thought we played well 5-on-5 for the first 40 minutes,” said Blues interim coach Drew Bannister. “I thought the guys competed hard and did many good things.”
Nashville leads the Western Conference’s wild-card standings with 92 points, eight ahead of St. Louis, both having played 76 games. This win completes a three-game season series sweep for the Predators against the Blues.
“It was most important to get back on track, but at the same time, we knew the importance of the game,” Forsberg said. “Obviously (St. Louis has) been playing well, and I thought they played well tonight too. Strong effort to get that win.”
Josi scored just 31 seconds into the game, followed by Saad’s goal for St. Louis at 7:27 of the first period. Forsberg’s power-play goal early in the second period gave Nashville the lead again.
Beauvillier extended the lead with a power-play goal in the final seconds of the second period, marking his first goal as a Predator. McCarron added another goal in the third period, while Neighbours and Kyrou scored for the Blues to reduce the deficit.
Kyrou’s late power-play goal brought the Blues within one, but Forsberg sealed the game with an empty-netter, his career-high 43rd goal of the season, tying the Nashville franchise record set by Matt Duchene. Jankowski’s short-handed empty-net goal secured the victory for the Predators.
