Blues host Predators -- a Jake Allen shutout victim when last they met
Jake Allen's shutout against Nashville in November came at the tail end of a strong start to the season for St. Louis. A similar performance in the next meeting could help the Blues get back on track.
St. Louis seeks a third consecutive victory over its Central Division rivals and first win streak in over a month when the struggling Predators visit Thursday night.
One of Allen's four shutouts was a 4-0 win at Nashville on Nov. 7 in which he had a career-high 45 saves -- the most by any NHL goaltender in a shutout this season.
While it was just the Blues' second straight win in a series that has split the last six meetings, St. Louis improved to 13-4-0 against the Predators since Feb. 23, 2012. That span includes a 6-2-0 mark at Scottrade Center.
St. Louis (18-10-4), which opened the season 11-3-1, is seeking its first back-to-back victories since winning three in a row Nov. 4-10. The Blues are 7-7-3 since then and have traded wins and losses in their last six games.
Tuesday's 4-3 victory at Winnipeg helped drown out the bitterness of a 2-3-0 homestand. Thursday's contest is the Blues' eighth in 10 games at Scottrade Center, where they are 9-6-2 overall but just 2-4-0 in their last six. In the pair of wins, St. Louis has owned a scoring advantage of 7-1, but that flips to 14-5 in the four losses.
Five of St. Louis' eight remaining games in December will come at home.
"We still have a lot of games left on this home stretch," Kevin Shattenkirk told the team's official website. "We have to get it back in our favor. We haven't played our best hockey here at home and there's no dancing around that."
Shattenkirk extended his point streak to five games with a pair of assists against the Jets, giving him 18 in his last 16 games (four goals, 14 assists). David Backes also pushed his point streak to five games with an assist, while Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko finished with a goal and two assists each.
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The tallies from Steen and Tarasenko came on the power play, and the Blues' penalty-kill unit improved to 21 for 21 in the last nine games by nixing two Jets opportunities.
Nashville (15-10-6) fell to 4-7-3 in its last 14 with Tuesday's 2-1 overtime loss to Calgary, closing a three-game homestand 1-1-1.
The Predators have lost each of their last six overtime games and have yet to score in the extra period. Their only two wins after regulation came with back-to-back shootout victories in mid-October. Nashville is 2-4-2 in its last eight away from home.
"You're going to go through some slumps during the season, and I think it happens to every team," Roman Josi told the team's official website. "You want to win every game if you can, but that's just not going to happen and that's not possible in this league."
Predators defenseman Barret Jackman faced his former team for the first time in November and is set to play his first game as a visitor in St. Louis, where he spent the first 13 seasons of his career.
Goaltender Pekka Rinne suffered the loss in Nashville on Nov. 7, allowing four goals on 28 shots. He is 16-13-4 with a 2.20 goals-against average in 33 starts against St. Louis -- the most against any team in his career.
