Forsberg has 2 goals and an assist to lead Predators over Blues, 6-3
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg had two goals and an assist, Juuse Saros made 44 saves and the Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 6-3 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Roman Josi, Anthony Beauvillier, Michael McCarron and Mark Jankowski also scored goals and Gustav Nyquist had three assists for Nashville.
“It wasn’t our best effort,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We were on our heels a lot of the night, but we got great goaltending and special teams stepped up and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Brandon Saad, Jake Neighbours and Jordan Kyrou scored and Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for St. Louis, losers of two of their last three.
“I thought we played well 5-on-5 for the first 40 minutes,” Blues interim coach Drew Bannister said. “I thought the guys competed hard and did a lot of good things.”
Nashville sits atop the Western Conference’s wild-card standings with 92 points, eight clear of third place St. Louis. Both teams have played 76 games. The Predators swept the three-game season series with the Blues.
“It was most important to get back on track, but at the same time, we knew the importance of the game,” Forsberg said. “Obviously (St. Louis has) been playing well and I thought they played really well tonight too. Strong effort to get that win.”
Josi scored the game’s first goal just 31 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Coming down the right side on a two-on-one with Nyquist, Josi looked at his teammate before snapping a wrist shot between Binnington’s pads for his 20th goal of the season.
“At the end of the day, you want to get wins, and obviously with the team right behind you, it’s a little bit more important,” Josi said. “This was a great test for us. We’re going to play a lot of meaningful games going down the stretch here and then hopefully in the playoffs.”
Saad tied it at 7:27 of the first, scoring from the slot after forcing a turnover by Ryan O’Reilly on the left boards.
Forsberg scored a power-play goal at 1:13 of the second.
Beauvillier scored a power-play goal with 29.6 seconds remaining in the second, giving Nashville a two-goal lead heading into the third.
It was Beauvillier’s first goal as a Predator after being acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline. He was a healthy scratch in Nashville’s last three games.
McCarron scored at 4:09 of the third, and Neighbours cut the Blues’ deficit to two at 6:21.
Kyrou scored a power-play goal with 2:15 left to make it 4-3. Binnington was pulled for an extra attacker on the power play, giving the Blues a 6-on-4 skater advantage, but Forsberg scored an empty-netter with 1:44 remaining to seal the game.
The goal was Forsberg’s 43rd of the season, which is a career high and ties Matt Duchene’s Nashville franchise record.
Jankowski scored a short-handed empty-net goal with 36.5 seconds remaining to account for the final score.
UP NEXT
Blues: Visit San Jose on Saturday night.
Predators: Visit New York Islanders on Saturday night.
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