Blues and Predators square off in battle of top Central teams
Nashville Predators (7-5-1, second in the Central) vs. St. Louis Blues (8-2-1, first in the Central)
St. Louis; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST
LINE: Blues -176, Predators +149; over/under is 5.5
BOTTOM LINE: The two best teams in the Central face off when the St. Louis Blues take on the Nashville Predators.
The Blues have gone 4-1-0 against division opponents. St. Louis ranks fourth in the league averaging 3.6 goals per game, led by David Perron with six.
The Predators are 2-1-1 against the rest of their division. Nashville averages 9.2 penalty minutes per game, the eighth-most in the Western Conference. Tanner Jeannot leads the team serving 22 total minutes.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting this season for the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jordan Kyrou leads the Blues with 12 points, scoring three goals and adding nine assists. Vladimir Tarasenko has four goals and seven assists over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Roman Josi leads the Predators with 12 points, scoring four goals and adding eight assists. Matt Duchene has 10 points over the last 10 games for Nashville.
LAST 10 GAMES: Blues: 7-2-1, averaging 3.4 goals, 6.3 assists, 3.8 penalties and 11.3 penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game with a .934 save percentage.
Predators: 6-3-1, averaging 2.8 goals, 5.1 assists, 4.4 penalties and 9.7 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game with a .920 save percentage.
INJURIES: Blues: Ville Husso: day to day (health protocols), Torey Krug: day to day (health protocols), Brayden Schenn: day to day (upper body), Kyle Clifford: day to day (health protocols).
Predators: David Rittich: out (covid-19), Mark Borowiecki: day to day (upper body).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by