Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg speaks to the media following a 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Bridgestone Arena. The Nashville Predators [http://thn.com/nashville] (27-37-8, 62 points) fell 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] (39-28-7, 83 points) in the fourth and final matchup between the Central Division rivals this season Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. Nashville squandered an early 2-0 lead and allowed St. Louis to score two goals 22 seconds apart in the third period. Joel Hofer made 16 saves in the win for the Blues, while Nashville's Juuse Saros made 18 saves in the loss. The Blues swept the season series against Nashville, 4-0. St. Louis now holds a five-point lead over the Vancouver Canucks for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, while Thursday's loss officially eliminated the Predators from playoff contention. HOW THE PREDATORS LINED UP VS. ST. LOUIS Forsberg-O'Reilly-Evangelista Bunting-Stamkos-Marchessault Smith-Svechkov-Bellows L'Heureux-McCarron-Sissons Skjei-Blankenburg Del Gaizo-Barron Englund-Stastney Saros Annunen Extra: Vrana, Oesterle IR: Lauzon, Josi, Wilsby Fedor Svechkov, Nashville Predators [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7567da7b-2af4-4196-92ae-873f9fcff659.jpeg] Fedor Svechkov, Nashville Predators PREDATORS VS. BLUES: LIVE UPDATES FIRST PERIOD (NSH 2, STL 0) Fedor Svechkov got the scoring started for Nashville with a pinpoint wrist shot from the slot that went bar down at the 2:48 mark of the first period. Michael Bunting made the play behind the net and fed to Svechkov for the score to give Nashville a 1-0 lead. Andreas Englund also recorded a secondary assist on the play for his first point as a member of the Predators. The Predators doubled their lead on the power play just over halfway through the frame with a shot from the high slot by Brady Skjei. A Ryan Suter slashing penalty gave Nashville the man advantage, and Skjei received a drop pass from Luke Evangelista to score with just 14 seconds remaining on the penalty to make it 2-0 at the 10:16 mark Evangelista's primary assist on the play gives him six points in his last six games. He has three goals and three assists in that span. SECOND PERIOD (NSH 2, STL 1) Tempers flared when Englund laid a heavy hit on Jake Neighbours in front of the Predators' bench and Tyler Tucker came to his teammate's defense. Englund and Tucker were each assessed five-minute fighting majors at 5:29 of the second period. The Blues began to pick up some momentum midway through the frame, ultimately capitalizing on a lengthy stretch in the offensive zone with their first goal of the game. Dylan Holloway ripped a shot past Saros at the 10:35 mark of the second period to cut the Predators' lead to 2-1. THIRD PERIOD (NSH 2, STL 3) Cam Fowler picked his spot and roofed a shot that beat Saros to tie the game for St. Louis at the 11:57 mark of the third period. Holloway capitalized on a turnover by Michael Bunting and scored his second goal of the night just 22 seconds later to give St. Louis the 3-2 lead. Jonathan Marchessault appeared to tie the game for Nashville at the end of regulation, but an official review determined that the puck crossed the goal line after time had expired. The Blues held on for the 3-2 final.
