After riding a four-game point streak (3-0-1) into the holiday break, the Nashville Predators fell flat out of the gate in a 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Blues Friday at Enterprise Center. The two teams combined for six goals on 21 shots in a wild first period, and Predators goaltender Juuse Saros was pulled from the game in the second period after allowing five goals on 15 shots. After falling behind 2-0 early, Nashville managed to bring the score within one on four separate occasions but was unable to break through to tie the game or take the lead. With the loss, Nashville is 0-1-0 to begin a six-game road trip and moves to 11-18-7 on the season. HOW THE PREDATORS LINED UP VS. ST. LOUIS Forsberg-Stamkos-Marchessault L'Heureux-O'Reilly-Nyquist Jankowski- Novak-Evangelista McCarron-Sissons Lauzon-Josi Skjei-Blankenburg Wilsby-Schenn Barron Saros Annunen Extra: Pärssinen IR: Smith The Predators went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second game in a row after announcing prior to Monday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes that forward Cole Smith has been placed on IR and will miss 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury he sustained during Saturday's OT win over the Los Angeles Kings. Michael McCarron, who left Monday's game against Carolina with an apparent upper-body injury, returned to the lineup against St. Louis. The Hockey News' Emma Lingan and Michael Augello discuss which NHL teams are in greatest need of a reset in 2025 on The Wraparound. GAME SUMMARY The Blues jumped on the Predators early and often in this one, scoring twice in the first three minutes of the game. Robert Thomas scored on St. Louis' first shot of the game at 1:20 after intercepting a pass from Gustav Nyquist to Brady Skjei and driving to the net, unassisted. Zack Bolduc then scored in transition, going bar down from the top of the face-off circle to push the Blues' lead to 2-0 less than three minutes into the game. The Predators got their first power play opportunity at 3:38, when Jordan Kyrou was whistled for holding against Jonathan Marchessault. Nashville was unable to convert on the man advantage, but Mark Jankowski cut the Blues' lead in half moments after the power play expired. After St. Louis goaltender Joel Hofer stopped the initial shot from Colton Sissons, Jankowski was there to punch in the rebound for the Predators' first goal of the game. Minutes later, Jordan Kyrou extended his home point streak to 13 games with his 15th goal of the season to extend the Blues' lead to 3-1, but the Predators had an answer on the power play. With Cam Fowler in the box for holding against Nyquist, Steven Stamkos brought the Predators within one on the man advantage, roofing a shot from the face-off circle to make it 3-2. Fowler nearly responded with a power play goal of his own, ultimately scoring at even strength from long range through traffic just as Adam Wilsby came out of the penalty box to make it 4-2 in the final minutes of the first period. The Predators cut the Blues' lead to one goal a third time with a spectacular goal from Nick Blankenburg at 5:31 of the second period. Blankenburg split two Blues defenders at the blue line, carried the puck into the slot, and slid it between Hofer's pads for the score. Saros was replaced by Justus Annunen with 4:31 remaining in the second period after his pass landed right on the stick of Philip Broberg for the Blues' fifth goal of the game. Annunen came up with some key saves off the jump to keep St. Louis off the board for the remainder of the second. The Predators got another opportunity on the power play midway through the third period when Mathieu Joseph was called for a trip on Adam Wilsby. Marchessault capitalized, burying a feed from Stamkos to cut the Blues' lead to 5-4. Jankowski and Tyler Tucker were both called for penalties after a scuffle in front of the Blues' net late in the third period, but the teams were only at 4-on-4 for less than a minute until a hook by Blankenburg gave St. Louis the man advantage. The Blues were able to capitalize on the power play for the first time in eight games, with Thomas firing through the screen to find the back of the net to extend their lead to 6-4. Colton Parayko scored into the empty net, shorthanded, for the 7-4 final. KEY TAKEAWAYS & NOTES * undefined * undefined * undefined * undefined UP NEXT The Predators continue their six-game road trip Monday with their first of two visits to the Winnipeg Jets. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States. Visit The Hockey News Nashville Predators [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-news], game day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/players], podcasts [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/podcasts] and more. RECENT PREDATORS NEWS
