Game Day: Preds at Blues Preview

After starting their two-game trip in Boston, the Nashville Predators have traveled to St. Louis for a date with the Blues tonight at Enterprise Center. This evening's contest is the second of four meetings between the divisional foes this season; the Preds topped the Blues in overtime back in November.
Nashville began 2022 on a five-game win streak, but they've since dropped their past two games, including a 4-3 defeat in overtime on Saturday in Boston. However, the Predators were much more satisfied with their effort against one of the top teams in the East after falling to Buffalo last Thursday, and they'll look to improve upon Saturday's outing tonight against the Blues.

"I really liked our game," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said following Saturday's OT loss. "I thought we were engaged, and we talked a lot about being a hard team to play against - physically and mentally… It was a very intense game, very physical, not a lot of free ice out there, both teams really battled hard, so I'm proud of our guys' effort tonight. I thought that's more of the style of game that we want to play, and we continue to have those different challenges that we talked about. I thought we had a strong game [today] against a really good hockey team."
"We all just understand that sometimes it's just not your night, you're not going to win a hockey game, but we can't really control that," Preds forward Colton Sissons said. "We can control our effort and the attitude that we come and play with, and most nights we've done that this year. I think that's why we are where we are in the standings, and I thought it was there tonight. So, we'll continue that moving forward."
Defenseman Mattias Ekholm joined forward Filip Forsberg on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Saturday, and both players were absent against the Bruins. However, forward Yakov Trenin was removed from the protocol list and returned to the lineup, as did defenseman Mark Borowiecki who was back after missing one game with a lower-body injury.
The Predators did not practice on Sunday, but they did make a few roster moves by reassigning forward Matt Luff to the taxi squad, recalling defenseman Jeremy Davies to the taxi squad from Milwaukee (AHL) and reassigning goaltender Tomas Vomacka to Florida (ECHL) from Milwaukee.

The Good Guys:

Preds Captain Roman Josi (13g-26a) continues to lead the team in scoring with 39 points, followed by Matt Duchene with 17 goals and 34 points. Mikael Granlund (5g-28a) has 33 points on the season, Ryan Johansen (10g-20a) has 30 points and Tanner Jeannot has 12 goals and 23 points. Goaltender Juuse Saros is 20-10-2 in net for Nashville; David Rittich is 3-1-1.

The Opposition:

The Blues (22-11-5) have won four of their last six games, but they dropped a 6-5 decision to Toronto on Saturday night. Jordan Kyrou (14g-25a) leads the Blues with 39 points, followed by Pavel Buchnevich (14g-21a) with 35 points and Vladimir Tarasenko (14g-20a) with 34 points. Jordan Binnington is 11-8-3 in net for the Blues; Ville Husso is 5-2-1.

All-Time Meetings:

The Predators are 59-44-(4)-12 all-time against the Blues, including a 27-27-(1)-5 record on the road. Nashville has won 12 of its last 17 games against St. Louis - including 10 of its last 14 - and has scored at least four goals in eight of those wins.
Nashville held St. Louis shotless in the third period on Feb. 16, 2008, at Bridgestone Arena; it's the only time in franchise history the team has given up zero shots in a single period.

Notables Versus St. Louis:

Roman Josi has 23 points (5g-18a) in 41 career meetings with the Blues. Ryan Johansen has points in five of his last nine games vs. St. Louis, recording two goals and four assists. He has 22 points (9g-13a) in 34 career games against the Blues.
Granlund recorded his first career four-assist game on Nov. 11, 2021, at St. Louis. Kunin is a native of Chesterfield, Mo., and skated in the St. Louis Jr. Blues youth hockey program.
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.

Watch & Listen:

Coverage for tonight's 7 p.m. CT puck drop from St. Louis begins at 6:30 p.m. CT with the Predators Live! pregame show on Bally Sports South. Willy Daunic, Chris Mason and Lyndsay Rowley have the call on the television side, while Pete Weber and Hal Gill will broadcast on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network. Pregame coverage on the radio begins at 6 p.m. with Darren McFarland. For broadcast information and channel locations throughout the country, click here.