St. Louis Blues at Nashville Predators

Playoff-bound Blues score 7 in 2nd period, beat Preds 8-3

Calle Rosen, Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou each scored two goals, Nathan Walker and Vladimir Tarasenko also scored, and Jordan Binnington made 33 saves for the Blues, winners of nine straight. St. Louis locked up its fourth straight playoff spot on Saturday when it beat Minnesota.

“I’m very happy with the team, the way they’re performing,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “They are playing for each other and right now. They are doing a good job. It’s all about the team.”

Nick Cousins had a goal and an assist and Luke Kunin and Dante Fabbro also scored for Nashville, which has lost two of three. The Predators are tied in points with Dallas for the top wild card spot in the tight Western Conference.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first period. Cousins gave Nashville its only lead of the game at 4:16 and Schenn answered at 17:41.

“The thing is, it’s so cliché, but there’s nothing you can about it right now,” Cousins said. “You just got to get ready for the next one. It doesn’t really matter whether we lost 2-1, 3-1. It’s a loss.”

The floodgates opened in the second. Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros was pulled at 9:29 after allowing Kyrou’s first goal, which made it 4-1.

“Every line can play and every line can score goals and do the right things,” Kyrou said. “It’s obviously huge and it’s definitely going to be huge in the playoffs.”

Saros, who backstopped the Predators in their win over Chicago on Saturday, made 16 saves on 20 shots. He was replaced by David Rittich, who allowed four goals on 13 shots.

“There (weren’t) any soft goals,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “It was a 2-on-1, breakaway, 2-on-1. It was all clear-cut chances. We just left them out to dry. There was nothing they could have done. It’s on us. We got embarrassed in the second period and we gave up way too much.”

The seven goals were the most allowed in a period for the Predators franchise.

Rosen, playing in his 34th career game, had scored just once prior to Sunday’s two-goal effort — on April 1, 2019. He also picked up an assist Sunday.

“It’s always fun to score goals, so it was good to get two today, but it’s a great second period by us,” Rosen said. “We were rolling over them. It was a fun game to play.”

STREAKS EXTENDED

Blues forwards Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich both extended their lengthy point-scoring streaks.

With one assist, Thomas has reached the scoresheet in 13 straight, scoring six goals and adding 19 assists.

Buchnevich also had an assist, giving him points in his last 10 games. He has six goals and 12 assists over that span.

HONORING TERRY CRISP

The Predators honored longtime broadcaster Terry Crisp before the game. Crisp has been part of Nashville’s broadcast team since the team entered the league in 1998 and is retiring at season’s end.

Affectionately known as “Crispy,” he won Stanley Cups as a player with the Philadelphia Flyers and as a coach with the Calgary Flames.

Crisp was also an original Blue, playing five seasons for St. Louis beginning with the team’s inaugural season in 1967-68.

TARASENKO’S MILESTONES

Tarasenko played his 600th career game. With his goal and three assists, he set a career high in points with 76. Tarasenko has scored in five straight games and has eight goals and seven assists in his six-game points streak.

UP NEXT

Predators: Host Pacific Division-leading Calgary on Tuesday.

Blues: Host Boston on Tuesday.

STL wins series 3-1