Juuse Saros stopped 24 of 26 shots, as the visiting Nashville Predators beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 Saturday night to snap a six-game losing streak.
Filip Forsberg, Mattias Ekholm, Colton Sissons and Calle Jarnkrok scored for the Predators, who prevailed for just the second time in their last 10 games. Saros won for the second time in eight starts this season.
But victory may have been costly, as two-time 30-goal scorer Viktor Arvidsson exited the game after absorbing two cross-checks from defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
The Blues suffered just their fifth regulation loss in 24 games. They got goals from rookie Klim Kostin, his first in the NHL, and Alex Pietrangelo, the 100th of his career. Jordan Binnington made 39 saves, including two on short-handed breakaways.
The Predators came out firing, recording the first 10 shots of the game and building a 22-9 shots advantage in the first period.
They struck just 20 seconds into the contest when Arvidsson fired a shot from a sharp angle on the right wing, and Forsberg converted the long weak-side rebound from the left side.
About 3 1/2 minutes later, Ekholm scored a strange goal to make it 2-0. He threw the puck toward the net, and it caromed wildly off two Blues defensemen -- first Jay Bouwmeester, then Justin Faulk -- to beat Binnington.
Kostin, back in the lineup with newly signed Troy Brouwer still seeking his visa, cut the lead to 2-1 with just over six minutes left in the first period. He took a pass from Brayden Schenn in his own zone, skated down the middle of the rink, backed off three defenders and beat Saros with snapshot.
But Sissons scored with 1:26 left in the period as Predators pushed their lead to 3-1. He followed up after Binnington thwarted Mathieu Olivier's break-in with a poke check. Olivier's assist was his first NHL point.
With Binnington out of the net for an extra attacker, Pietrangelo scored a power-play goal to cut the Blues' deficit to 3-2 with 3:08 to play. But Jarnkrok's empty-net goal iced the game.
These Central Division rivals play again Monday night in Nashville.
--Field Level Media
Nashville | St. Louis | |
Austin Watson 2 | Points | Klim Kostin 1 |
Mattias Ekholm 1 | Goals | Klim Kostin 1 |
Austin Watson 2 | Assists | David Perron 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Jaden Schwartz 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Juuse Saros .923 | Save Percentage | Jordan Binnington .929 |
Juuse Saros 24 | Saves | Jordan Binnington 39 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Nashville | 43 | 4 | 0-3 | 2-3 | 6 | 34 |
St. Louis | 26 | 2 | 1-3 | 3-3 | 6 | 28 |