What to Watch For: Predators Attempt to Slow Down Blues by Mark Harris

St. Louis Blues 1 Nashville Predators 2

The Nashville Predators (9-3-2) defeated the St. Louis Blues (9-4-1) by the score of 2-1 in a Central Division showdown. Nashville’s victory ended the Blues’ seven-game win streak.

Here is a recap of the events of the night:

1st Period:

The game got off to a slow start with no shots on net for either team until the the 17:14 mark. The first shot came via the Blues and the Blues’ next chance at the 16:25 mark would be a good one, but Pekka Rinne would come up with a big save for the Predators; this being the first real scoring opportunity for either team on the night.

The Predators would get their first power play opportunity 7:15 into the opening period courtesy of an interference call to Patrik Berglund. This power play would result in two-shots on net but no goal for Nashville.

The back and forth contest would see it’s first goal of the night from Jori Lehtera of the Blues 14:30 into the opening period. The puck barely beat Rinne’s left pad to give the Blues a one-goal advantage.

Later on in the period Maxim Lapierre of the Blues would be called for goaltender interference on Rinne with 35-sceonds remaining in the opening period and the penalty would carry over into the second period.

The first period would end with the Blues holding a one-goal advantage.

1st Period Takeaways:

Rinne came up with a few key saves. He stopped 11 of the 12-shots he faced in the opening period.

Olli Jokinen had a very good chance to score his first point as a Predator but he was denied in front of the net.

The game was, for the most part, back and forth and very evenly matched.

Nashville was out shot 12-11 in the first 20-minutes.

2nd Period:

The Predators would start the period with 1:25 remaining on the power play that carried on into the middle period but the Predators wouldn’t capitalize. Colin Wilson would get a pretty good scoring chance just after the power play but Elliot would make the save.

Nashville would however tie the game up 7:20 into the period courtesy of a great goal from Filip Forsberg via a Roman Josi assist. This would be Forsberg’s sixth-goal of the season and his 14th point through 14-games to knot the game up at one-goal a piece. James Neal would be credited for the secondary assist.

Rinne would come up with a remarkable save with 4:50 remaining in the period on Vladimir Tarasenko. Rinne had almost no business making the save, but then again he is Pekka Rinne.

Later on, with 2:11 remaining in the middle period, Mattias Ekholm would be called for holding. The Ekholm penalty would be killed off and the period would end in a 1-1 tie.

2nd Period Takeaways:

Forsberg made his goal look easy, even though it wasn’t.

Rinne is definitely on his A-game and keeping the Predators close in this one.

Predators out shot the Blues 11-9 in the middle frame.

3rd Period:

The third period would get underway and the opening minutes would resemble the first two periods; back and forth hockey, although the third period seemed to be a bit slower paced than the opening two periods.

The Predators would hold all of the momentum in the opening half of the final period. Shea Weber and Derek Roy would both get quality scoring chances around the 11:30 mark of the period but Brian Elliot would make saves on both chances. St. Louis would not get their first shot on net of the period until the 10:15 mark.

Nashville would change the scoring line later on in the third period. Forsberg would drop the puck to Neal as he crossed the blue-line and Neal would display his signature wrist shot, sending the puck past Elliot to give Nashville a one-goal advantage with 6:28 remaining in regulation.

Neal’s goal would hold up as the game winner and give the Predators the win in St. Louis putting them atop the Central Division standings.

Final Takeaways: