The Nashville Predators are cooking with a recipe for success ahead of their clash against the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon.
Steven Stamkos scored in overtime on Thursday, extending Nashville’s win streak to three games with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.
“All four lines are rolling, the (defense) is playing great, the goaltenders are playing great, special teams has been great,” Stamkos said. “It’s a recipe for success.”
Ross Colton and Vitali Pinchuk each scored in regulation for Nashville, which has secured at least a point in six of its last seven games (4-1-2). Ryan O’Reilly notched a pair of assists and Justus Annunen made 30 saves in the victory.
Stamkos, the team leader with nine goals, has five tallies and a pair of assists over his last seven games.
“It just feels like we’re building some momentum in terms of how we want to play our game, the style of play that our group … we’re getting comfortable,” Stamkos said. “Obviously, we had a lot of turnover this year with new guys. It takes some time to get adjusted to the systems, to get adjusted to the coaching staff — to see what we have — and then put a game plan together.”
Filip Forsberg paces the Predators with 19 points through 16 games, while captain Roman Josi has a team-leading 16 assists in 16 contests.
Juuse Saros, Saturday’s expected starter, is 4-3-4 with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 11 games this season. In 25 career appearances against the Blues, Saros is 11-11-2 with an .886 save percentage and a 3.30 GAA.
Saturday is the second of four meetings this season between the Central Division rivals.
Forsberg had a goal and an assist and O’Reilly, Jack Drury, Jonathan Marchessault and Adam Edstrom also scored as the Predators posted a 5-2 win over the Blues on Oct. 17.
St. Louis travels to Nashville following a 5-4 overtime loss to the host New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
“Happy with the point because we were down 4-1,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “When I look at the game, the first period (the Devils) took it to us. In the second period, I thought we started to gain control of the game.”
Philip Broberg and Mason McTavish each scored and added an assist and Robert Thomas and Dalibor Dvorsky also tallied in the loss.
McTavish is second on the team with seven goals and shares the club lead in points (12) with Broberg and Dylan Holloway.
Jordan Binnington made 32 saves for the Blues, who have dropped two in a row (0-1-1) and are 3-5-1 on the road this season.
Joel Hofer, expected to be between the pipes on Saturday, is 6-4-1 in 11 games this season, posting a .918 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. The 26-year-old is 4-3-0 with an .865 save percentage and a 3.59 GAA in eight career appearances against Nashville.
Saturday concludes a four-game road trip for the Blues.
