In St Louis, Matt Duchene had two goals and three points as the Nashville Predators rallied from a 0-2 deficit to the Blues, and then bounced back from a game-tying goal that forced overtime, to win, 4-3, on Thursday night.
Duchene hit for the game-winner in the extra session.
“It’s great. Nothing bothers us,” Duchene said. “We were down 2-0 after the first. They were taking it to us and dominating the game really. We don’t ever get too low or too high. We have fun playing. It’s a very different vibe now. We keep our heads down and stay tight.”
David Rittich made 33 saves in his first appearance with the Predators.
Jordan Kyrou scored two of the Blues goals.
“They’re coming off a back-to-back, or this is a back-to-back for them,” Kyrou said. “Obviously they’re a little juiced and we really didn’t take advantage of that.
“I think in the first period, we kind of dictated the play of the game. We were forechecking hard, we were all over the puck making plays. I think the second period, we kind of let off the gas a little bit. We gave them some leeway and they scored those two goals.”
St Louis dropped to 8-2-2.
“I don’t like the ‘D’ sliding on that play,” Blues head coach Craig Berube said. “I think we just give the outside shot up and take away the weakside of the ice. And David’s got to make sure he gets in front of his guy.”
Luke Kunin and Yakov Trenin scored for Nashville in regulation.
“I really liked how we played,” Predators head coach John Hynes said. “Guys came in and were plugged in. We had to find ways to score. I thought we were loose. This was a really good character win. We showed mental toughness.”
Vladimir Tarasenko scored for St Louis in the third period to tie the game leading to the extra session.
“Yeah, I think we had a good start,” the Blues’ Robert Thomas said. “We were up 2-0 and just loosened up a little bit in the second period there and let them right back into it. But I think we battled back good at the end of that period and responded well after their third goal. But just not good enough for 60 minutes.”
Jordan Binnington made 23 saves in the Blues loss.
You must be logged in to post a comment.