The St. Louis Blues watched a 5-1 lead disappear Monday night as the Nashville Predators stormed back to win 6-5 during the Blues Dads Trip, with players’ fathers in attendance. The loss dropped St. Louis to 20-27-9 on the season and extended their road losing streak to eight games, while also marking the fourth loss to Nashville this season. The collapse came after the Blues dominated early, but momentum completely flipped once the Predators changed goaltenders and began their comeback push.

First Period

The St. Louis Blues came out strong and opened the scoring at 4:53 of the first period. Jake Neighbours tipped a pass from Jordan Kyrou past Juuse Saros to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead. Neighbours made his presence known at the top of the crease, showing how effective the Blues can be when they establish traffic in front of the net.

Nashville responded at 9:16 on the power play. Former Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly tied the game 1-1 after redirecting a point shot from Filip Forsberg. The shot itself wasn’t overly hard, but O’Reilly extended his stick one-handed and deflected it past Joel Hofer.

The Blues regained the lead late in the period. At 14:24, St. Louis went on the power play and needed just 20 seconds to capitalize. Jake Neighbours found Pavel Buchnevich in the slot, and Buchnevich fired a quick one-timer past Saros to make it 2-1.

St. Louis controlled much of the play in the opening frame, finishing the period with a 14-9 shots advantage while displaying strong puck movement and offensive-zone time.

Second Period

The Blues extended their lead quickly to start the second period. At 0:45, Pavel Buchnevich scored his second goal of the night after finding a loose puck in front and lifting it over Saros’ right shoulder. Jordan Kyrou earned the assist on the play.

At 3:25, Philip Broberg pushed the lead to 4-1 with a one-timer from the blue line, again assisted by Kyrou. The puck took an unusual bounce off the back wall and then deflected off Saros’s skate before sliding into the net, giving the Blues a fortunate but important goal.

Just 30 seconds later, at 3:55, Jimmy Snuggerud made a slick pass to Colton Parayko, who beat Saros short-side, top-corner to make it 5-1. Following the goal, Nashville pulled Saros and turned to their backup goaltender. By the midpoint of the period, the Blues held a dominant 24-9 shots advantage.

The Predators began to shift momentum later in the period. At 11:35, Michael McCarron redirected a point shot from Michael Bunting in front of the net to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Nashville struck again at 13:49 when Filip Forsberg made a highlight-reel play, toe-dragging around a defender before firing a top-shelf shot past Hofer to make it 5-3.

From there, the Predators controlled the pace. The Blues struggled with puck battles and turnovers as Nashville ramped up pressure. In the final seconds of the period, the Predators thought they had scored again, but the buzzer sounded before the puck crossed the goal line.

Despite leading 5-3 and holding a 28-18 shots advantage after two periods, the Blues had clearly lost momentum after allowing two late goals.

Third Period

The Predators carried their late second-period momentum straight into the third. At 2:02, Ryan O’Reilly scored his second goal of the game to cut the deficit to 5-4, a massive swing considering the Blues once held a commanding 5-1 lead.

Nashville continued to pour on pressure, generating chance after chance. Luke Evangelista rang a shot off the post, and shortly after, Jonatan Berggren drove down the ice and blasted a shot off the crossbar in one of the few good offensive looks for St. Louis in the period. Evangelista later broke in on a breakaway, but Joel Hofer made a key stop to preserve the one-goal lead temporarily.

The pressure finally broke through at 7:14. Steven Stamkos wrapped the puck around the net and slipped it past Hofer to tie the game 5-5, completing the Predators’ comeback from four goals down. At that point, the Blues struggled to generate anything on the ice.

Nashville’s efficiency told the story, as the Predators scored four goals on just 14 shots during the stretch.

Stamkos struck again at 10:23 to give Nashville its first lead of the night. After a strange bounce sent the puck high into the air, Stamkos tracked it perfectly and stuffed it into the net to make it 6-5. The Blues bench was visibly deflated as the game slipped away.

Late in the game, St. Louis attempted to pull Hofer for the extra attacker but struggled to maintain possession long enough to do so. They finally pulled him with around 50 seconds remaining, but were unable to generate the equalizer.

The Predators completed the comeback, defeating the Blues 6-5 after trailing 5-1 earlier in the game. The turning point came after Nashville pulled Juuse Saros and inserted Justus Annunen, who shut the door, and the offense came alive, helping shut down the Blues’ offense the rest of the way.

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