Saros Smothers the Blues at Bridgestone
Juuse Saros was the difference in a game that was close to even on chances. Nashville won 3-1, but St. Louis got plenty of good looks. Saros stopped 24 of 25 shots and turned most of them aside.
The chances themselves were nearly balanced. Nashville had slightly the better of them, and shot attempts were close too. What separated the teams was in net. Saros finished with 2.18 goals saved above expected, meaning he kept out about two goals more than an average goalie would have facing the same shots. Joel Hofer was solid at the other end, stopping 26 of 28, but he couldn't match that.
The Blues have a list of near misses. Pius Suter got just two shots away, but they were worth 1.09 expected goals, or more than a full goal's worth of chances, and neither went in. Mason McTavish rang one off the post. Jimmy Snuggerud scored the lone Blues goal on 5 shots.
For Nashville, Steven Stamkos scored and added an assist on 5 shots. Ross Colton, on a line with Jack Drury and Adam Edstrom, scored after creating some of Nashville's best chances. Nick Perbix also scored, and Roman Josi had two assists. Each team scored once on the power play.
The Predators (now ahead of the Blues in the wild-card race) got the bounces and a goalie on his game.
