St. Louis Blues Vs. Nashville 4.0: Pregame News And Notes

The St. Louis Blues take on the Nashville Predators. They’ll be seeking their first win of the season against their division rival.

The St. Louis Blues take on the Nashville Predators for the fourth and final time of the season today. They better be prepared to wake up early because the Blues tend to have mixed results in early games.

The Blues have not had good success against Nashville at all this season. In fact, they have yet to win a game against their mustard wearing opponents.

None of the games have been blowouts, but the Blues have not played particularly well. The last game these two had was particularly disappointing with St. Louis having a commanding lead and then putting up the white flag faster than you can say toast.

St. Louis needs something today. What that is will differ fan to fan.

They clearly have to win. Another loss, coupled with other recent results from other teams will knock the Blues out of the playoff spot.

They can make it back in with a loss today, but six losses in a row would just be a mental hardship that nobody needs right now. That includes fans in with the players on that sentiment.

Know Thy Foe

The Predators are not pulling over or stopping for anyone right now. They’ve won their last three games and are 6-2-2 in their last 10.

Nashville did what the Blues could not and embarrassed the San Jose Sharks in their last game. It was not pretty with a 7-1 win.

As mentioned, the Predators are undefeated against St. Louis this season. The first two games, Nashville scored twice, shutting out the Blues in the first game and winning 2-1 in the second. The third was the hardest to take with St. Louis up 3-0 and losing 4-3.

For some strange reason, the Predators still have two games in hand on the Blues. At this point it does not matter since they are 11 points ahead in the standings.

The odd thing about Nashville is nobody is scoring a ton. It is all being done with a team effort. Only one player has 20-plus goals and only three players have 40-plus points.

Compare that with the Blues, who have two 50-plus point scorers and four 40-plus scorers but a big drop down the lineup.

Blues Tidbits

Get used to hearing NBC announcers. This is the first of three consecutive games that will be broadcast on the NBC family of networks.

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The Blues are trying to end a nasty skid against the Predators. They have not beaten Nashville since May 5, 2017. They have not won in Nashville since February 2, 2016.

The Blues are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games. They have fallen out of the playoff spot for the first time all season. St. Louis now trails Anaheim by a point, though St. Louis actually has a game in hand on them and more overall wins.

Projected Lineup from the team website:

Forwards

Ivan Barbashev – Paul Stastny – Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz – Brayden Schenn – Tage Thompson
Alexander Steen – Patrik Berglund – Nikita Soshnikov
Vladimir Sobotka – Kyle Brodziak – Dmitrij Jaskin

Defense

Carl Gunnarsson – Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester – Colton Parayko
Jordan Schmaltz – Vince Dunn

Goalie

Jake Allen

I’m not sure what Barbashev has done to earn time with the top line, though at this point anything is needed.  I’m excited to see what Soshnikov can provide.  I don’t expect him to be great, but bringing some energy and not being hampered with the depression this team suffers from has to help.

The Allen start is surprising, but almost necessary at this point.  You need to figure out if Allen can take this pressure down the stretch.  If not, the Blues might be willing to part ways with him.  Perhaps they can take advantage of the recent postgame comments of support for Snake.

Where To Watch

Television:

NBC

Streaming:

NBC Sports App, NHL.tv (subscriber fee)

Radio:

KMOX, KMOX.com, Blues app

The puck drops a little after 11 am Central Time. Don’t misread that station either. That is regular NBC, not NBCSN. So, if you’re in St. Louis it’s on Channel 5.

Prediction

Perhaps it is the earliness of the game or the lack of oxygen from being unable to breathe through my nose. Whatever the reason, I am cautiously optimistic about this game.

Of course, the Blues could easily crush that optimism early in this contest. However, I think they will play better.

Sadly, that does not automatically mean a win. Better is better right now and would at least be something to build on.

On the flip side, you need wins, not moral victories. That will be harder.

Next: Blues Need To Decide Who To Keep On NHL/AHL Rosters

I think the Blues can pull it off. They showed they could dominate the Predators for a time in their last game.

I do not expect the same from this one, but a good result is not out of the question.

Blues win 2-1.