Sergei Kostitsyn sealed the game for the Predators with an empty-netter.
The Predators welcome the St. Louis Blues back to the Bridgestone Arena Saturday night, the fourth meeting this season between the two division rivals. Before this game, the Predators had already shutdown the Blues all three times, so St. Louis was itching to ruin the fourth try on Nashville’s home turf. Saturday’s game also welcomed a ton of fans from both sides, the 16th sellout of the season for the Predators. Here are the highlights from Saturday’s game:
KEY POINTS:
- Even though he made the cover of Saturday’s Preds Press, Jack Hillen found himself amongst the scratched that night, along with Jerred Smithson (his thirty-third birthday, geez – no love) and rookie Gabriel Bourque.
- The Blues came out a bit scrappy, eager to get the first goal on Pekka Rinne. However, St. Louis made a fatal mistake when David Perron took a hooking penalty, giving Martin Erat his 12th goal of the season with a slap shot passed Jaroslav Halak on the power play at 6:59. Both Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Suter assisted on the power play.
- Mike Fisher wasted little time at 12:30 with a wrist shot in front of the net, sending the Predators up and over the Blues 2-0. Fisher’s 15th goal of the season was assisted by Sergei Kostitsyn and Martin Erat.
- The second period produced no goals, but Brian McGrattan reminded Ryan Reaves who you should and shouldn’t drop the gloves against. Though the video is voiced by the St. Louis announcers (and of course they are going to go for Reaves), but anyone with a brain can tell you Big Ern put the little Blues player in his place. We put the video on our Facebook on Saturday, but here it is in case you missed it:
- Chris Porter made up his fellow Blues players with a goal at 4:01 in the third, finally getting the St. Louis Blues on the board (Dang! No doughnut for us…), his 3rd goal of the season.
- St. Louis would continue to push Pekka Rinne to his limits, but in the end, at 19:37 with a nice, clean pass from David Legwand, Sergei Kostitsyn sealed the empty-netter along with the game, his 13th goal of the season. Along with the assistance from Leggy, Martin Erat picked up an assist and his third point for the game.
- Pekka Rinne has been on fire since the get-go, and these last few games have produced some new contortionist moves from the Finnish phenom, keeping expectant goals away from the net. How was he not an All-Star goalie again? Pekka was able to block an amazing 42 of 43 shots on goal (we wouldn’t expect any less).
- The Blues and the Predators both faced their share of penalties, with the Predators capitalizing on one of three given to them. The Predators also gave the Blues three chances, and here are the culprits:
- Jordin Tootoo – 13:27 1st Period – Tripping (absolutely horrible call)
- Brian McGrattan – 8:49 2nd Period – Fighting (awesome beat down)
- Craig Smith – 8:49 3rd Period – Delaying the Game – Puck over Glass (he sure makes some silly mistakes)
Since the Predators dismantled the Blues and their thought of a win, Nashville is now 4-0-0 against the Blues this season, though each game has been nail-bitingly close. The Predators continue at home on Tuesday when they welcome the oh-so-lovable Vancouver Canucks to Nashville. The puck drops at 7PM!
Also, congrats to everyone who ran, walked, jogged, etc. today during the Predators Fangtastic 5K! Although it was raining, that didn’t stop 1400 fans from taking on the 3 miler! We jogged it, but still felt the burn the next day!
Until then,
GO PREDS.
(Photo credit: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images North America)
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