Nashville Predators Host Rival Blues in Home-and-Home Set
By Kyle Gray
On Thanksgiving Eve, the Nashville Predators welcome division rivals St. Louis Blues to Bridgestone Arena for the first half of a home-and-home set.
One team sits atop the NHL standings while the other is the basement dweller in the Central Division. Despite the polarity, the rivalry between the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues is always hard fought. Tonight is the first of five meetings between the two teams. Recent history shows these games are either nailbiters, or they get out of hand.
Nashville has an all-time record of 53-41-4-11 and swept the season series last year. In the four games last year, Nashville won by shutout twice and eked out a one-goal victory the other two games. And if you go back to the 2016-17 Western Conference Semi-Finals, four out of the six games were decided by one goal.
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St. Louis has been shutout in three of their last four games, resulting in the firing of coach Mike Yeo and subsequently replacing him with Craig Berube.
Other Storylines
The Blues were busy in the offseason welcoming a slew of newcomers to the team, including: Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak, Patrick Maroon, and Chad Johnson. David Perron also returned to the team. For the most part, each of these acquisitions have impacted the team so far. Of note, O’Reilly leads the team in goals, assists, and points with a 10/13/23 line.
Puck possession has been an issue for St. Louis. Where the Nashville Predators are top 10 in CF, FF, and SF%, the Blues are bottom-half in all of those categories. Both teams have more high-danger chances against than for. However, Nashville has converted more of their own high-danger chances than St. Louis.
It’s no secret that Nashville’s power play has seen better days, but Kyle Turris has notched power play goals in two consecutive games. Hope may be on the horizon. On the other hand, St. Louis has a 24.2% with the man advantage. Sixteen of their 56 goals have been scored on the power play. All signs warn Nashville to maintain composure and stay out of the penalty box.
While St. Louis may not be the biggest Central Division rival to the Nashville Predators. A game between these two teams is always worth watching. Puck drop is at 7PM Central. After a break for turkey, they do the dance all over again on Friday night.
Projected Lineup for Nashville
The Predators are still without defenseman P.K. Subban, and there is no set timetable for his return. However, the team did send Rocco Grimaldi back to Milwaukee, even though many believe he earned more time on NHL ice. Based on morning skate, here is the projected lineup tonight.
Forwards
Filip Forsberg – Ryan Johansen – Craig Smith
Calle Jarnkrok – Kyle Turris – Ryan Hartman
Colton Sissons – Nick Bonino – Austin Watson
Miikka Salomaki – Frederick Gaudreau – Kevin Fiala
Defense
Anthony Bitetto – Yannick Weber
Goaltenders
Next. Is Fiala's time in Nashville running out?. dark