Predators at Blues
The Nashville Predators look to put a winless homestand behind them and post their third consecutive road victory when they visit the Central Division-rival St. Louis Blues on Friday. Nashville concluded an 0-2-1 stretch at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday with a 3-2 setback against Chicago that saw the club squander a 2-1 lead in the latter half of the third period.
The Predators have won two in a row on the road but may have to attempt to extend that streak without leading goal scorer James Neal, who exited the loss to the Blackhawks in the second period with an upper-body injury. St. Louis is continuing a six-game homestand that began Wednesday with a 6-3 victory over Philadelphia in which the team scored four straight goals over the final 14:07 of the third period. Robby Fabbri ended his seven-game goal-scoring drought in a big way, registering his first career hat trick as he (11) and David Perron (10) helped increase the amount of players on the Blues to reach double digits in tallies to four. Vladimir Tarasenko, who leads St. Louis with 16 goals, has gone three games without one but has registered a tally and three assists in three meetings with Nashville this season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One, TVAS, FSN Tennessee (Nashville), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (15-14-6): Nashville has gone 2-2-2 without P.K. Subban, who will miss his seventh consecutive game Friday due to an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old defenseman has collected 17 points over 29 contests in his first season with the Predators and is five shy of 300 for his career. Filip Forsberg is heating up offensively as he enters the matchup against St. Louis with four goals in his last five games.
ABOUT THE BLUES (19-12-5): Alex Steen is in a major funk, as he has gone 11 games without a goal since scoring the 200th of his career - and just third of the season - on Dec. 3 against Winnipeg. The 32-year-old left wing is on the verge of reaching two more milestones, needing one assist for 300 and one point for 500. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who hasn't played since Dec. 3 due to a lower-body injury, agreed to terms Thursday on a two-year contract extension.
OVERTIME
1. The Blues own the most wins at home in the Western Conference, going into Friday's contest 14-2-4.
2. Nashville captain C Mike Fisher is six assists shy of 300 for his career.
3. Fabbri is the second-youngest player in St. Louis history (20 years, 341 days) to record a hat trick behind Bernie Federko (20 years, 269 days).