We’re hoping tonight’s game between the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues goes a little better than last time. If you recall, St. Louis scored three times in the game’s first 10 minutes, and chased Pekka Rinne to bring Carter Hutton on the ice for his first time as a Predator. The net is Hutton’s again, as he will get his third NHL start.
The Stats
| St. Louis Blues | Nashville Predators | |||
| Record | 5-1-2 | 16th | 6-4-1 | 12th |
| GF/Game | 3.50 | 2nd | 2.00 | 25th |
| GA/Game | 2.62 | 12th | 2.27 | 6th |
| 5-on-5 Close SF/60 | 32.7 | 10th | 29.6 | 23rd |
| 5-on-5 Close SA/60 | 28.0 | 10th | 29.8 | 14th |
| Fenwick Close | 52.60 | 10th | 50.10 | 15th |
| 5-on-5 Close Save % | .951 | 4th | .926 | 12th |
| 5-on-4 GF/60 | 12.2 | 2nd | 5.4 | 19th |
| # of PP’s/Gm | 3.50 | 19th | 3.18 | 26th |
| 4-on-5 GA/60 | 7.5 | 19th | 5.2 | 7th |
| # of PK’s/Gm | 4.25 | 25th | 3.55 | 15th |
The St. Louis Blues
Before playing last night in Vancouver, it had been a full seven days since the Blues last game, which was a stinker for them. They let the Jets claw back from a 3-1 deficit to tie it in the third period.
Alex Steen is still on a tear to start the year. The forward has scored eight goals in eight games to start the year. Coupled with the five assists he has, he leads the team in scoring so far this campaign.
Despite his mediocre season last year, David Backes is doing everything he can to lead his team this year. Backes is 6-3-9 in the eight games he’s played this year, which is drastic improvement to where he was at last year.
The Nashville Predators
With no plan to get Magnus Hellberg between the pipes in the near future, the Carter Hutton era in Nashville has officially begun. Though it’s a small sample size, he is .944% with a 1.80 GAA in his career. While it may still be way to early to get too excited about him, he has looked cool as a cucumber in the games he has been in. The Blues aren’t the most offensively dynamic team, so he has a good chance to get his fifth career win if the guys in front of him help him out.
David Legwand assisted on Craig Smith’s game-winning overtime goal on Thursday. Along with his assist, that marked the 110th multipoint game of his career. He’s now tied for the franchise lead with Martin Erat.
The Preds want some revenge for the embarrassing period they played against the Blues on opening night. With the Blues fresh off a loss last night, the Predators need to jump on them right from the opening faceoff and wear them out. A tall task considering how physical the Blue Notes are.
Puck drop at 7 p.m. Central.