The St. Louis Blues had a very bad start to the 2025-26 season. Even though the Christmas break was not the official midway point of the season, the few days off was hopefully a chance for them all to take a deep breath and reset.
Initially, it seemed as though that might have been the case against the Nashville Predators. The Blues set up Robert Thomas with a great look from the middle, but he could not convert.
Even so, St. Louis would get the first goal of the game - on the power play no less. As the Blues cycled the puck around, Cam Fowler took the shot/pass from the left point and Brayden Schenn got a deflection right in front to make it 1-0 almost nine minutes in.
Nashville would pressure enough to get the tying goal three minutes later. Alexey Toropchenko had a double-whammy as he lost a board battle in the offensive zone and also couldn't clear the puck in the defensive zone. Nashville took the shot from the left point and, although weak, it ramped off a Preds' in front and hopped over Joel Hofer's left shoulder.
St. Louis got a lucky bounce of their own with just over a minute left. Pavel Buchnevich tried to feed to the back side on an odd-man rush. It went off the defender, right back to Buch, who backhand-chipped it over the goalie to make it 2-1 going into the intermission.
The second period was a back and forth affair in the first 15 minutes. Nasvhille came out strong, the Blues countered and then the Predators picked up the pace even more.
Nashville nearly tied it with around four minutes left. On the power play, the puck came to a wide open Steven Stamkos with an empty net, but in his attempt to go backhand, forehand, he lost the puck. The Blues would manage to kill off the rest of the penalty.
It seemed as though the Predators tied it when Hofer's pass was knocked out of mid-air by Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg scored. St. Louis challenged for offside on the zone entry though, and the Blues stayed up 2-1 despite the goalie's gaff.
Nashville nearly tied it in the dying seconds as well. Roman Josi went on a strong wraparound, but a stick from Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg kept the Blues in the lead.
The Blues took advantage of that good defensive play with the next goal of the game around five minutes into the third. St. Louis came in on a rush and Buchnevich took the shot from the high slot. He gathered in his own rebound off the pad save, out-waited the goalie and buried it into the open side netting from near the goal line to make it 3-1.
Whether it was Nashville pressuring or the Blues settling into a defensive shell, the Predators still managed to get on the front foot. Despite a St. Louis power play, the Blues were sloppy and lackadaisical. Nashville came in shorthanded and made the Blues look like they were shorthanded. The Predators made it 3-2 with a shorthanded goal about 12 minutes in.
The Blues continued to play with fire, requiring Hofer to stop 13 of 14 shots. They were really buzzing in the final two minutes and St. Louis never even came close to getting an empty netter, but would hang on 3-2 for a regulation win.
Con: The shorty
Shorthanded goals happen and the Blues are actually pretty good this season, with this only being their second one allowed. However, most of those come off turnovers leading to breakaways.
This one, Nashville comes in on a rush and then never gives up possession. Once again the Blues had multiple guys around one puck carrier and did not come away with the puck.
When Nashville has four players and not even all four in the zone and you cannot even look like you have a man advantage, it's just pathetic.
Pro: Physicality
This game still didn't feel like a playoff game, or even quite an old-school rivalry game, but it was still one of the more physical performances we've seen from the Blues this season. They stepped up to the plate.
The Blues outhit the Predators and were credited with 25 statistical hits. When you're going against a team that chips and chases, they'll often outhit you just because they're chasing so many pucks in the Blues defensive zone. So, finding ways to avoid that and also get your own licks in is a step in the right direction.
St. Louis also had 19 blocks too, putting their bodies on the line.
Pro: Buchnevich
Buch still had some mistakes and he's had a very rough season. It doesn't matter if you want to chalk it up as skill or luck, the bottom line is he got two goals.
Maybe he benefitted from lucky bounces, but it was based on will too. He didn't give up on either play.
The first goal, he shows good hand-eye coordination by gathering his own deflected pass and depositing into the goal. The second, he gets the rebound again and out-waits the goalie and then picks out the goal from a tough angle.
St. Louis needs more of that Buch than the one that glides around and sulks.
Overview:
This was a nice, late Christmas present for Blues fans. I don't want to act like the spoiled child, but I'd still like it to be a little easier.
On the one hand, Nashville has been on a heater, going 10-4 in their last 14 games, so they're never going to go away or be easy. Still, on the other hand, the Blues are up two goals and playing pretty well only to fall into those same issues that allow other teams back.
I give the Predators full credit for battling right until the end. However, focusing on the Blues, I just don't like this team's inability to handle opponents' strong pushes and failure to even remotely come close to an empty-net goal.
On the positive side, the Blues came out well and took it to the Predators. While the second period only saw St. Louis get five shots, they still didn't feel as overwhelmed as a 10-5 margin would suggest.
Looking forward, I liked what Jamie Rivers said in the postgame show. The Blues need to capitalize on this game.
You can't just give it right back on Monday, otherwise you'll never truly gain the ground you need to be a playoff team. St. Louis may only be one point back right now, but they're tied for the most games played in the conference, so you can't count on that point difference alone. The Blues need wins and wins in regulation.
Hopefully this was the start of a decent run between now and the Olympic break, but time will tell.