Filip Forsberg scored his first goal of the season and added an assist for the Nashville Predators, who also scored on a penalty kill and a penalty shot in a 5-2 victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
Jonathan Marchessault, Adam Edstrom, Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Drury also scored for the Predators. Steven Stamkos, Adam Wilsby and Roman Josi each recorded two assists.
Juuse Saros made 24 saves for Nashville, which snapped a three-game winless streak (0-1-2).
The Blues got goals from Philip Broberg and Jimmy Snuggerud. Mason McTavish, Jake Neighbours and Dylan Holloway added assists.
Jordan Binnington stopped 19 shots for the Blues, who lost their second straight.
St. Louis struck first thanks to a Predators turnover in their defensive end. McTavish kept Nashville from clearing the puck along the boards and fed Broberg, who notched his first of the season from the high slot with 13:39 left in the opening period.
Nashville tied it with 11:20 elapsed when Binnington was called for throwing his stick at Marchessault. That set up a penalty shot for the Predators forward, and he beat the Blues netminder through the legs.
That was the Predators’ first penalty shot goal since Viktor Arvidsson scored one at Detroit on April 8, 2021. The Predators had missed their last seven.
Forsberg, a 40-goal scorer last season, entered Saturday with a team-leading 22 shots on goal. He finally broke his season-long drought on a wraparound off a pass from Stamkos with 7:38 left in the first period, giving Nashville a lead it would not relinquish.
Edstrom tallied his fourth goal and second short-handed goal of the season with 12:55 to go in the second period. However, Snuggerud responded 31 seconds later, snipping the Predators’ lead back to one. St. Louis finished 1-for-5 on power play chances.
O’Reilly extended his goal-scoring streak to three when he backhanded in his own rebound less than three minutes into the third. Drury, acquired in June from Colorado, scored his first of the season with 11:46 remaining, deflecting Josi’s cross-ice feed into the net.
–Field Level Media
