Predators Claim Win Over Blues, NHL Playoffs

Down 2-1 in the series, the Blues hope to shift momentum back on their side and head home for Game 5 Friday night tied at two games apiece.

With a 2-1 series lead, the Predators look forward to Game 4 which will take place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Tuesday, May 2 at 8:30 p.m. CST.

“Whether I moved [Reaves] up or moved people down”, Yeo said, “that’s up for debate”.

“We had a decent start, but once they started to get to their game we didn’t seem to have an answer for it”, Yeo said.

When you think about the great defensemen who’ve played for the Nashville Predators, you think of those who’ve left (Shea Weber, Ryan Suter) and those who picked up the torch (P.K. Subban, Roman Josi).

The St. Louis Blues have a big opportunity in front of them as they approach Game 4 against Nashville.

“It’s a hard-fought game”, Steen said. I thought we played well too. “Whoever gets the recognition, it’s just about how we’re playing, and everybody pulling in the right direction and we have that”.

James Neal made sure it didn’t matter, scoring the game-winning goal with 6:57 left, as the Predators beat the Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

They weren’t almost as disciplined in Game 3 here on Sunday and compounded their problems that afternoon by failing to match the Predators’ intensity. But speaking of Edmonton, the Connor McDavid-led group is still scoring a ton – the Oilers now have 10 goals through three second-round games – and will have another shot to claim a home win in Game 4.

Ellis continues to kill the Blues.

Neal scored unassisted to give the Predators a 2-0 lead at 13:03 on a wrist shot from above the right faceoff circle.

The Blues lost Paul Stastny for the final six minutes of the first period after an apparent – and while he came back – it took a while for their offense to return.

Robert Bortuzzo rang the post behind Rinne in the third period’s first five minutes, but the Blues couldn’t generate any real sustained pressure after that until pulling Allen for the last 4:09.

Unfortunately for the Blues, their silly penalties told only part of the tale in their 3-1 loss to the Predators. While the Blues held the Predators scoreless, just moments later, Cody McLeod makes it 2-0 Nashville. Allen made the save, but McLeod banked the rebound off his pads and in.

“It is the first time I see a referee not let the captain talk to them”, Pietrangelo said. Nashville scored two power-play goals, which turned out to be the difference in the opening game of the series. It put 34 shots on net to St. Louis’ 23 and had a 59-48 advantage in total shots on the day. Steen was assisted by Alex Pietrangelo and Vladimir Sobotka.

The Predators go on to dominate the 2nd period, outshooting the Blues 18-4 with the Blues going significant minutes without even generating a shot.

“I’m going to come in and grab the toughest guy in the scrum”, Reaves said. “But then after that, we got back to five on five, lifted our game and went back to what we do best”.