The Nashville Predators look to build off yesterday’s close win over the Chicago Blackhawks today. They’ll face a St. Louis Blues team that’s won eight straight, leaving them very close to clinching a playoff berth. Both teams defeated a Central Division opponent yesterday—the Blues had a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Wild—and both teams lost a defender to injury in yesterday’s game, with the Preds’ Jeremy Lauzon leaving after an awkward fall and the Blues’ Nick Leddy leaving after taking a stick to the head.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Robert Thomas lead the Blues’ offense, with Tarasenko’s 32 goals and 73 points out in front. Thomas has a team-leading 54 assists, bringing him to 72 points of his own, while three other players have also cracked the 40-assist mark: Tarasenko (41), Pavel Buchnevich (also 41), and Jordan Kyrou (42). Nobody other than Tarasenko has broken 30 goals, but they have a lot of players with goal totals in the high 20s; this team can score.
They’ve combined a strong power play with good all-around shooting to make up for any scoring deficiencies that might come from a very average 5v5 offense, and paired a weak 5v5 defense with a good penalty kill and great goaltending. Ville Husso has managed a .923 sv% for the season despite facing a lot of high-quality shots, and has done great work for the Blues. Jordan Binnington has had a rougher season, putting up a .902 sv%.
How to Watch
The game starts at 5PM Central and will air on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.
Statistics from naturalstattrick.com. Further background from hockeyviz.com.