On Monday night, the Nashville Predators (23-9-3) traveled to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks at the United Center. In the beginning, the Preds looked unstoppable with a 3-0 lead. The Blackhawks fought back and late in the 3rd period the Preds had their lead cut to 4-3.
The Blackhawks pulled goalie Corey Crawford to get the man advantage late. At 1:13 of the third period, Bryan Bickell put in a rebound to tie the game 4-4.
After a spirited OT, the two teams went to a shootout. In the shootout, the Preds were unable to get past Corey Crawford and Jonathan Toews was able to get one past Pekka Rinne as the Blackhawks were able to get two points against the Predators. One bright side is that Nashville was able to get one point in Chicago.
The Predators look to rebound as they make it back to Bridgestone Arena to take on the St. Louis Blues tonight at 7:00 CST.
In their last outing, the St. Louis Blues (22-11-3) were able to get a strong start out of Martin Brodeur as the living legend amassed his 125th career NHL shootout and the Blues won 3-0. This could be Brodeur’s final game with the Blues as Brian Elliott will be returning from a lower body injury.
The St. Louis Blues were able to get goals from Dmitrij Jaskin (2nd-00:28), Chris Butler (2nd-4:30), and Vladimir Tarasenko (3rd-15:25).
The Blues are being led in points by Vladimir Tarasenko with 39. Tarasenko also leads the team in goals with 22. The next closest to Tarasenko in goals is Jaden Schwartz with 11.
Keys to Watch
Home Sweet Home
Bridgestone Arena has been good to Nashville this season. With an average attendance of 16,953 (99.1) fans in attendance, the Predators’ Loyal Legion has come out to support their hometown team this season. The Preds are 13-2-1 at home with 12 one goal decisions. Bridgestone Arena will need to be rocking tonight as the Preds take on the St. Louis Blues. Tonight’s matchup will be another strong, difficult task, but the Preds need two points.
Blues Offense
When a discussion is brought up in regards to the offense of the St. Louis Blues, you must talk about Vladimir Tarasenko. His offensive production has been outstanding for the Blues this year. With 22 goals and 17 assists, he has been a juggernaut for his team. The Nashville Predators must stop Vladimir Tarasenko in order to stay in the game against St. Louis.
Elliott Back in Net
When Brian Elliott went down due to injury, the St. Louis Blues signed Martin Brodeur and he has served as a great fill-in for Elliott. Earlier today, Brian Elliott was activated from injured reserve and will be in net tonight. On the season, Elliott has appeared in 14 games with a record of 8-4-1, 1.82 GAA, .932 SV%, and 1 shutout. If there is any rust on Elliott, the Nashville Predators should be able to take advantage of his coming off of injury.
Bridgestone Arena will be the site of another Central Division battle as the Preds and Blues both will be working on back-to-back nights. The team is in dire need of these two points, and want as much gold in Bridgestone Arena as possible! If you can’t make it out to the game tonight, you can catch it on FS-Tennessee or you can listen live on 102.5 The Game.
