St. Louis Blues Try to Get Off the Schneid in Visit to Nashville Predators
After a recent five-game winning streak, the St. Louis Blues have now lost two straight. Can they rebound in an afternoon matchup with the Nashville Predators?
The St. Louis Blues head into Nashville on Saturday afternoon, playing the Predators for the first end of what will be a back-to-back set of afternoon road contests. After the conclusion of the Blues’ bout with Nashville, they’ll travel to Carolina on Sunday to face the Hurricanes.
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The Blues have had significant success against the Predators this season and will look to keep that going on Saturday. They’re 4-0 against Nashville–a team that had the Blues’ number in 2014-15–and they’ll look for a season sweep on Saturday, which will mark the division rivals’ final meeting of the season. After losing two straight following injuries to forward Alex Steen and goalie Brian Elliott, there’s really no better team for the Blues to regain some confidence against than Nashville.
Currently sitting in third place in the Central Division, the Blues will look to build some momentum and perhaps tie the Chicago Blackhawks, who next play on Sunday, for second place in the Central. The Blues can also pad their lead against the Predators, a team that sits in fourth and is in position for a playoff spot but needs eight points to catch up to the Blues.
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Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has a chance to re-enter the Blues’ lineup for the first time since February 6 (eight games missed) on Saturday. He’s been skating with the team this week and participated in Friday’s practice. If Pietrangelo returns, he’s likely to replace Robert Bortuzzo, who missed Friday’s practice and has been the odd man out for most of the year when the Blues have been at full strength defensively.
There will also likely be changes among the Blues’ forward corps on Saturday. Center Jori Lehtera didn’t practice on Friday after taking a puck to the face in Thursday’s loss, so he’s questionable against the Predators. Considering that it’s a day game, it would be a bit of a surprise if Lehtera played Saturday.
If he’s out, he’ll likely be replaced by Patrik Berglund on the Jaden Schwartz-Vladimir Tarasenko line, with Ty Rattie entering the lineup to take Berglund’s usual wing spot on the David Backes line. In addition, since Magnus Paajarvi and Scottie Upshall were swapped during Thursday’s game, it’s possible that the change could remain in effect on Saturday.
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Here’s how the lineup could look against Nashville:
Jaden Schwartz–Patrik Berglund-Vladmir Tarasenko
Scottie Upshall–David Backes–Ty Rattie
Robby Fabbri–Paul Stastny–Troy Brouwer
Magnus Paajarvi–Kyle Brodziak–Dmitrij Jaskin
Jay Bouwmeester–Alex Pietrangelo
Carl Gunnarsson–Colton Parayko