5:00 PM CT – St. Louis Blues (1-0-0) @ Nashville Predators (0-0-1)
TV: FS Tennessee
Radio: 102.5 The Game
Players to watch:
STL- Vladimir Tarasenko
The dazzling Russian rookie scored twice in his NHL debut in Saturday’s 6-0 win over Detroit.
NSH- Colin Wilson
Look for Wilson to see a healthy dose of ice time tonight as he was one of the Predators’ better forwards in the opener despite not finding the statsheet.
Projected starting goaltenders:
STL- Jaroslav Halak (2012-13 stats: 1-0-0, 0.00 GAA)
NSH- Pekka Rinne (2012-13 stats: 0-0-1, 1.85 GAA)
Projected depth charts:
| St. Louis Blues | ||
| Offense | ||
| David Perron | David Backes | T.J. Oshie |
| Andy McDonald | Alex Steen | Vladimir Tarasenko |
| Jaden Schwartz | Patrik Berglund | Chris Stewart |
| Vladimir Sobotka | Scott Nichol | Ryan Reaves |
| Matt D’Agostini | Jamie Langenbrunner | |
| Defense | Goalie | |
| Ian Cole | Alex Pietrangelo | Jaroslav Halak |
| Barrett Jackman | Kevin Shattenkirk | Brian Elliott |
| Kris Russell | Roman Polak | |
| Jeff Woywitka | ||
| Nashville Predators | ||
| Offense | ||
| Sergei Kostitsyn | Mike Fisher | Martin Erat |
| Colin Wilson | David Legwand | Patric Hornqvist |
| Craig Smith | Nick Spaling | Matt Halischuk |
| Brian McGrattan | Paul Gaustad | Brandon Yip |
| Richard Clune | ||
| Defense | Goalie | |
| Roman Josi | Shea Weber | Pekka Rinne |
| Scott Hannan | Kevin Klein | Chris Mason |
| Hal Gill | Ryan Ellis | |
| Jonathon Blum | ||
Injury report:
STL- None
NSH- Gabriel Bourque (lower body, out)
Keys to the game:
STL- Impose will on Preds… In Saturday’s shootout loss to Columbus, the Predators didn’t put forth a 60-minute effort. St. Louis is a bigger, deeper team that can throw the body around any given night. They have the opportunity to send a statement to Nashville tonight with a similar performance to Saturday.
NSH- Win the board battles… The Blues’ dominant 6-0 win over Detroit in their opener is a sign they are on their A-game already. If they carry over that success, the Predators will have a tough time if they don’t do the little things right – like winning 1-on-1 battles in the corners and along the boards. For the Preds, getting a win before a seven-game road trip would be ideal.
Numbers to know:
- 2011-12 season series vs. St. Louis: 4-1-1 Predators
- The Preds were 26-10-5 at home last season … St. Louis was 19-16-6 on the road.
- The Preds were 16-5-3 vs. the Central Division last season … St. Louis was 10-9-5.
- Pekka Rinne is 12-6-3 with a 1.90 GAA and .934 save percentage in 21 career games vs. St. Louis. His counterpart, Jaroslav Halak, is 7-3-3 with a 1.71 GAA and .934 save percentage in 13 career games vs. Nashville.
- Patric Hornqvist has 10 points in 17 career games vs. St. Louis.
- 2011-12 special teams: Nashville (1st PP, 10th PK) … St. Louis (19th PP, 7th PK)
- The Preds were 8-3-0 on the front end of back-to-backs in 2011-12. They will play in Minnesota tomorrow night.
- The Preds are 3-4-0 all-time on Martin Luther King Day.
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