NASHVILLE — The St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to eight games with a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.
Dylan Holloway scored twice, Robert Thomas had two assists and Joel Hofer made 16 saves for the Blues (39-28-7), who moved five points ahead of the Vancouver Canucks for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Vancouver has two games in hand.
“I think that’s huge to have a comeback win,” Holloway said. “It wasn’t our best game by any means, we were kind of fighting it a bit early, but I think to come back and win a game like that is huge for our team. I think that’s how we grow. It’s definitely crucial to know that we can do that.”
Fedor Svechkov and Brady Skjei scored for the Predators (27-37-8), who were eliminated from playoff contention. Juuse Saros made 18 saves.
“I know it’s the numbers, but I feel like we were eliminated a long time ago,” Nashville forward Ryan O’Reilly said. “We knew it was coming, we haven’t been great by any means. Myself, I haven’t been great by any means. So, it was expected.”
STL@NSH: Skjei nets PPG for his 10th tally of season
It was Nashville’s third loss to St. Louis in the past 10 days. The Blues won 4-1 on March 18 and again 4-1 on Sunday.
“This was a playoff game, and we showed kind of why we are where we are versus where they are,” Predators forward Filip Forsberg said. “I think there’s tons to learn, tons of things we’ve got to work on, and it’s a great opportunity every time we step on the ice to do that. It’s going to have to be that mindset every game coming in.”
Holloway cut it to 2-1 at 10:35 of the second period, scoring with a wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Thomas.
“It was a neutral zone forecheck,” Holloway said. “As F2 there, you’re supposed to kind of take away the middle option, and my guy went to the middle, so I had to step in there. [Thomas] made a great play, swooped in there and grabbed it. [Thomas] is so good at driving [defensemen] down low and then pulling up, so I just tried to get in the play.”
Cam Fowler tied the game 2-2 at 11:57 of the third period when he roofed a shot blocker side from the left circle off a pass from Jake Neighbours.
Holloway then scored 22 seconds later to give the Blues a 3-2 lead. He poked the puck away from Predators forward Michael Bunting in the high slot before beating Saros glove side.
STL@NSH: Holloway nets his second goal of game in 3rd period
Jonathan Marchessault appeared to tie the game on a buzzer-beating goal, but a video review determined that the puck crossed the goal line after time had expired.
“I think we just stuck with it,” St. Louis coach Jim Montgomery said. “I thought it was important. Our first period was just OK, and Nashville was checking really well. They were playing faster than us. With our second period, we needed to win the period. We found a way to get a goal. And then in the third period, we just felt if we hung around then we were going to prevail. It wasn’t a constant pressure, but we were just a confident team. We think we’re going to find a way to win, and we did tonight.”
Svechkov gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:48 of the first period. He scored blocker side from the right hash marks off a pass from below the goal line by Bunting.
Skjei pushed it to 2-0 at 10:16 of the first, scoring a power-play goal on a wrist shot from above the circles.
NOTES: Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich missed his fourth consecutive game because of an illness. … St. Louis’ eight-game winning streak is its longest since a nine-game run from April 2-17, 2022.
