Blues at Predators
The Nashville Predators have been a better team in November with a four-game point streak and can climb back to the .500 mark when they host the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. The Predators gave up one goal each in a pair of victories, including Tuesday’s 3-1 triumph over Ottawa, and dropped two shootout decisions during their run after losing six of their previous seven contests.
Pekka Rinne has been in net throughout the streak for Nashville, allowing a total of six goals while posting a .948 save percentage. “He’s an elite goaltender,” Predators defenseman P.K. Subban told reporters. “When he’s on, he’s on. He’s been all season. He’s a big part of the team, backbone. We need him to be that way every night, and he has been.” St. Louis, which is 2-0-1 in its last three contests, will try to cure its scoring woes against Nashville after managing more than two goals just once since Oct. 22 - collecting 13 tallies in eight games during that span. Vladimir Tarasenko leads the Blues with 12 points, but six of those came in the first four games of the season and he’s recorded the same amount in his last 10 contests.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Tennessee (Nashville)
ABOUT THE BLUES (7-4-3): Captain Alex Pietrangelo notched his third goal of the season to tie the game late in the third period before Chicago posted a 2-1 overtime victory on Wednesday. One of the issues that must be fixed if the Blues are to begin producing goals is the power play as they have converted just once in 24 opportunities over their last seven contests. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk is tied with Alex Steen for second on the team with 10 points - six of which have come with the man advantage.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (4-5-3): James Neal has woken up with goals in his last two games to give him three on the season and is tied for third on the team with seven points. Subban (three goals, five assists) and Filip Forsberg (eight assists) top the Predators in scoring with eight points while Craig Smith has netted a team-best five goals. Captain Mike Fisher, who has missed the last three games, and defenseman Anthony Bitetto both practiced on Wednesday but are questionable to return to the lineup due to upper-body injuries.
OVERTIME
1. Nashville D Matt Irwin has registered three goals and one assist with a plus-3 rating over six games since being recalled from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League.
2. Steen has gone eight games without a goal, remaining one shy of 200 for his career.
3. The Predators snapped a five-game losing streak against the Blues with a 5-0 victory in their last meeting on Feb. 27.