The Preds are back in action after a satisfying win Wednesday. Today’s opponent is the St Louis Blues, who are hanging in there in the standings.
It’s a little hard to see why. They’re one of the worst teams in the league at 5v5, getting significantly outchanced every night, and their power play (which isn’t nearly as bad as their 5v5 play) clocks in at a whopping 7.3% success rate–not a typo. Part of it is thanks to good goaltending, with Joel Hofer putting up a .919 sv% on the season so far and Jordan Binnington contributing with a .912. Part is thanks to good shooting luck, at least 5v5.
Robert Thomas is the head-and-shoulders points leader, with 18 (7G/11A). While he also leads in both goals and assists, the gap isn’t anywhere near as large in either individually–Brayden Schenn and Pavel Buchnevich both have six goals, and Justin Faulk has contributed ten assists.
Brandon Saad, who’s been one of the team’s best play-drivers at even strength and gotten a lot of good chances of his own, has been notably unlucky. He, Thomas, Buchnevich, and Jordan Kyrou are the regulars who’ve come closest to breaking even on xG share (according to Natural Stat Trick’s model). Defender Scott Perunovich, who’s just returned from injury, has been great in the nine games he’s played so far, turning in a standout defensive performance and honestly not being that bad offensively either.
This would be a great opportunity for the Preds to start clawing their way back up the Central Division standings if that’s their plan. However, the Blues do have enough talent to make them pay for carelessness at both ends of the ice.
The game airs at 2PM Central, two hours from now, on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.
Statistics cited are from naturalstattrick.com, with background from hockeyviz.com.