Third period outburst sends Blues over Nashville

In Nashville, the visiting St Louis Blues scored three goals in the third period to break a 4-4 tie and send them to a 7-4 win over the Predators in a Saturday matinee.

Robert Thomas hit for a double and four points in the Blues win.

Ville Husso made 31 saves in the win.

“That’s nice, but it’s more about the team,” Thomas said. “We’ve had two big wins to get back on track and this is a huge divisional game. That’s more important.”

Matt Duchene hit for a pair goals, and Ryan Johansen added a single marker in the Nashville loss.

“I thought we played a really good game,” Duchene said. “We showed a lot of resiliency. They’re a good team. They’re clicking well. But that one stings because we played such a good game, had so many good looks. We probably felt like we should have won that game.”

Nashville dropped to 33-21-4.

Peron and Brandon Saad scored to give the Blues an early 2-0 lead.

“To outscore this team in the first period in their rink — you look at their stats, they are a good first-period team,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “They outscore teams and don’t give up a lot in the first period because they come with a lot of pressure right away, and they are a heavy forecheck team. We did a good job in the first period. We made plays, we handled their forecheck and we put pucks deep and went to work.”

Filip Forsberg and Duchene scored around a goal from the Blues’ Torey Krug  to end the first 40 minutes at 4-4.

“He’s (Duchene) a highly talented player,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “When you combine high talent with high work ethic, high compete and him playing smart, he allows himself to get into scoring situations. He’s playing with a lot of confidence, but he’s earned it with the way he’s playing.”

Thomas put the Blues ahead, 5-4, in the third.

“This is a hard building to play in,” Berube said. “The fans are energetic. [The Predators] play hard. We knew it was going to be a close one, no matter how it started. Obviously, you don’t want to lose a 3-0 lead, but we found a way to battle back and get the two points.”

Peron and Justin Faulk hit empty-net goals for the 7-4 final.

Juuse Saros made 28 saves in the Preds loss.