Blues' offense returns in victory over Predators

[January 20, 2023] Brandon Saad and Robert Thomas each had a goal and an assist as the St. Louis Blues recorded a 5-2 win over the visiting Nashville Predators on Thursday.

Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou also scored while Tyler Pitlick had two assists as the Blues won their second consecutive game. St. Louis improved to 4-2-0 in its past six games.

It was an offensive breakout for a St. Louis team that had scored only five total goals in its previous three games. Twelve Blues players collected at least one point in the well-rounded attacking effort.

Jordan Binnington stopped 24 of 26 shots to earn the win. It was another strong outing for Binnington against the Predators, after he delivered a 25-save shutout in the Blues' 1-0 overtime win over Nashville on Dec. 12.

Colton Sissons and Mattias Ekholm scored for the Predators, whose two-game winning streak came to an end. A would-be Tommy Novak goal early in the first period was disallowed due to goaltender interference after a video review.
 

Following a scoreless first period, the teams exchanged goals within the first three minutes of the second frame. Schenn started the scoring just 11 seconds after the first intermission, but a sloppy line change from the Blues opened the door for Sissons to equalize at the 2:36 mark.

St. Louis regained the lead 8:30 into the second period on a tremendous goal from Saad. The forward took the puck and worked his way past Nashville's Tanner Jeannot in the circle, then backhanded a shot through Juuse Saros (28 saves) for his 14th goal of the season.

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) watches the puck fly the the air during the first period against the Nashville Predators at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Kyrou contributed another highlight-reel effort on his power-play goal at 15:34 of the second period. Kyrou used some beautiful stickhandling to collect the puck in front of Nashville's net, then fired a backhanded shot off the crossbar and over the line.

The Blues put the game away with two more markers within the first 2:01 of the third period. Thomas tallied a tip-in goal at the 1:03 mark, and Toropchenko followed up with another score 58 seconds later.

Ekholm sliced into the final margin at 17:52 of the final period.

--Field Level Media

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