ST. LOUIS — Entering Thursday’s NHL games, a cluster of five teams were a mere six points apart, all competing for two wild-card spots in the Western Conference.
The Blues and the Nashville Predators are part of that group, which could spend the rest of the season jockeying for position and a postseason berth. The Blues had the advantage Thursday, defeating Nashville, 5-2, at Enterprise Center, and leapfrogging the Predators in the standings.
At 23-20-3, the Blues have 49 points, matching their high-water mark of the season at three games above .500. Nashville (21-18-6) has 48 points but has played one fewer game than St. Louis.
It was a much-needed home win for the Blues, who are 3-2-0 on this season-long seven-game homestand. Then again, they all fall into the “much-needed” category at this point of the season.
After scoring just five goals in their previous three games, the Blues put five up against one of the best goalies in the world in Nashville’s Juuse Saros. After one of their best second periods of the season gave them a 3-1 lead, the Blues did anything but sit back in the third.
Just 63 seconds into the final period, Robert Thomas scored his 12th goal of the season with a net-front tip-in after a shot by Calle Rosen to make it a 4-1 game.
Less than a minute later, it was 5-1 on Alexey Torpchenko’s third goal of the season. The fourth line was buzzing all night, and this goal came on a tic-tac-toe rush play – from Nathan Walker to Tyler Pitlick to Toropchenko for a tap-in.
Saros was named to the All-Star game this year for Nashville — his second all-star honor in a row. But he’s had trouble against the Blues over his career, falling to 5-7-2 against them after Thursday’s loss.
Jordan Binnington, meanwhile, posted his 108th career victory tying Grant Fuhr for fourth on the franchise’s all-time list
And for the second game in a row, a Blues youngster got in a fight and acquitted himself well — with defenseman Tyler Tucker going at it with Nashville’s Cole Smith at the 6:43 mark of the third.
What a second
Second periods haven’t been kind to the Blues this season. Entering Thursday’s contest they had allowed 67 goals in the second period — the second-highest total in the league. And their goal differential was minus-19 in the period, fourth-worst in the league.
But Thursday’s middle period was something else. The Blues got goals from Brayden Schenn, Brandon Saad and Jordan Kyrou to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. It was the 12th time this season the Blues have scored at least three goals in a period and the first time since Jan. 5 in New Jersey.
Schenn got things going just 11 seconds into the period, winning the faceoff, taking the puck from Justin Faulk near center ice and skating in alone to beat Juuse Saros. Nashville’s all-world defenseman, Roman Josi, went for the steal of the Faulk pass to Schenn and couldn’t get there. That’s what left Schenn with open ice, leading to his 11th goal of the season.
The Blues and their fans couldn’t celebrate for long, because on a bad change, Colton Sissons was left alone deep in the St. Louis defensive zone and scored to tie the game at 1-1 just 2:36 into the period.
Niko Mikkola was late getting off the ice for the change and Colton Parayko had to wait until Mikkola got to the bench to avoid a too many men penalty. That’s what led to the open ice for Nashville.
The Blues regained the lead on Saad’s 14th goal of the season, a dash to the net in which he blew by Tanner Jeannot and then beat Saros with a near-side backhand at the 8:30 mark. Tyler Tucker got the secondary assist for the first point of his NHL career.
If you thought that was a highlight goal, you should’ve seen Kyrou’s. (Or maybe you did.) With Mikael Granlund off for holding Toropchenko, Kyrou took a pass from Thomas at the net front. With his back partially turned on Saros, Kyrou thought about going between his legs, but instead flipped a backhand that got over the goalie and in.
Kyrou’s 21st goal of the season made it a 3-1 game with 4:26 left in the second. The Blues had been 0 for 8 on the power play in their previous three games.
On second thought
The first period featured a goal that didn’t count by Nashville, and a four-minute double minor that didn’t count. Also by Nashville.
The Predators had the early advantage in play and appeared to take a 1-0 lead when Tommy Novak got behind Calle Rosen to score on the rebound of a Jeremy Lauzon shot just 2:03 into the game. But the Blues challenged for goaltender interference and won – so the goal was wiped off the books.
Replays showed that Lauzon collided with Jordan Binnington after taking his shot (a tip-in attempt), impeding the goalie’s ability to make a play on the Novak rebound attempt. It was coach Craig Berube’s fourth challenge of the season – he’s 2-2 on challenges this season.
Later in the period, Nashville’s Cole Smith was called for a double-minor penalty for a high stick on Pavel Buchnevich. But replays showed it was actually teammate Brayden Schenn’s stick that struck Buchnevich in the face, so the penalty was wiped out.
The only penalty that stuck in the period was a hooking penalty against Buchnevich drawn by Novak. The Predators had some good chances, including three shots on goal on the power play, but the Blues killed it off to keep the game scoreless.
