After a strong performance during their homestand, the Nashville Predators return from the Christmas break playing some of their best hockey of the season, which has been a tough one overall.
Meanwhile, the St. Louis Blues will look to win back-to-back games for the first time in more than three weeks.
The Predators, who are on a four-game point streak, will aim for rare road success when they face the Blues on Friday night.
Nashville has 29 points and is near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, but they just finished a 3-0-1 homestand.
In Nashville’s 5-2 win over Carolina on Monday, Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals and had an assist, Filip Forsberg added three assists, and Steven Stamkos scored for the third time in five games.
“We’ve been playing some better hockey, and it’s good,” said Marchessault, who has scored five times during a four-game goal streak. “I think we push hard … Come back (from the break) with a lot of energy.”
Nashville has a home record of 8-7-3 but is only 3-10-4 on the road. Friday will begin a six-game road trip for the Predators.
“We’re not satisfied,” said Stamkos, who has three goals and four assists in the last seven games. “We have to carry that (into the new year).”
The Blues are 2-6-1 at home but should have some momentum after ending a 1-1-1 road trip with a 4-0 win at Detroit on Monday.
Dylan Holloway scored his first NHL hat trick, and Jordan Binnington stopped all 19 shots he faced for St. Louis, which had been limited to a single goal in each game during its previous 0-2-1 slide.
“Just a very complete game (Monday), and commitment to playing for each other,” said Binnington, who allowed at least three goals in six of his previous seven starts. “We need the points right now.”
The Blues are 3-4-2 since winning two straight games on Dec. 3 and 5.
Holloway, in his third NHL season and first with the Blues, already has set a career high with 13 goals. He ended a six-game point drought with his hat trick on Monday.
“It’s definitely good for the confidence,” Holloway said. “We got a lot of hockey to play … Just staying focused.”
Robert Thomas, with two assists against the Red Wings, now has 12 assists and 16 points in his last 11 games.
Meanwhile, Nashville’s Forsberg has not scored a goal in 13 straight games. However, he has 12 assists in his last seven contests. Forsberg has 20 goals and 23 assists in 38 career games against the Blues, and he had eight points while the Predators won all three meetings against them in the 2023-24 season.
Teammate Juuse Saros has a 2.32 goals-against average in his last three starts, all at home. However, he is struggling on the road with an 0-5-1 record and has allowed three goals in each of his last five road games.
As the Predators and Blues meet for the first time this season, Nashville has won four straight games in the series, including the last two at St. Louis.
