St. Louis Blues vs. Nashville Predators: Game Preview

The St. Louis Blues play the latter end of a back-to-back on Thursday night, facing the Nashville Predators following a deflating 4-1 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. The focus for many in Thursday’s game will be the debut of goalie Martin Brodeur, who will be playing his first-ever game for a team other than the New Jersey Devils at the age of 42. With that said, Thursday night is especially important for the Blues, as the two teams are tied in the division and will be battling for a sole share of first place.

The Blues and Predators have met twice this season so far. Nashville beat the Blues 2-1 on November 8 to snap a seven-game winning streak for St. Louis. The Blues got revenge on November 13, though, defeating the Preds 4-3.

We’ll see if the Blues do anything on Thursday to try to fortify their offensive attack after struggling to make things happen on Wednesday, even against Blackhawks backup goalie Annti Raanta, who hadn’t played in a game since late October. It’s highly possible that forward Joakim Lindstrom, who has scoring potential despite a lack of production thus far, will be inserted back into the lineup. If he steps back in, look for Chris Porter to be a healthy scratch, just as he’s been for 16 of the Blues’ 25 games this year.

The Blues will once again be without defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who will be missing his sixth straight game with a groin injury after snapping the longest active consecutive games played streak in professional sports on November 23.