Тогтвортой байдлаа хадгалж чадаагүй Сент-Луис Блюз Нэшвилл Предаторс багт хожигдлоо

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — How many times have we heard the word “consistency” when it comes to the St. Louis Blues?

Often? Too Many times to count? Not often enough? Well, that last one’s not the case.

When it comes to the Blues, when they harp in on a particular part of their game, another disappears. On Saturday, they were looking for a much better start to the game against the Nashville Predators. They got it, but then things tailed off in the middle of the game. Other times, it would be vice versa.

On Saturday, the Blues started well, played well early, got a lead in this building for the second time in three weeks, but for the second time, succumbed and fell, 3-1, to the surging Predators at Bridgestone Arena.

The Blues (7-8-1) just can’t seem to lock in on the consistency. Thursday in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils, it was a poor start with more jump in the second despite falling behind 4-1 and then a surge in the third period for the second time on this trip that helped them get a point.

On Saturday, it was start well. Check. But then their play tailed off, for whatever inexplicable reason, again, and would up chasing the game before pushing again – not enough – and the Predators (8-4-5) were able to put on a defensive stand and not give the Blues any easy ice.

In the end, it’s a 1-2-1 trip.

Let’s dive into the key points …

* Good first period, bad penalty (I like Jim Montgomery’s answer on Adam Jiricek) – The things that Blues coach Jim Montgomery talked about before the game, being physical, emotional and playing with pace was definitely there in the opening 20 minutes, and the Blues were making a concerted effort of getting bodies to the net.

And when Jimmy Snuggerud scored a power-play goal at 13:07 to make it 1-0 Blues, a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle after some good low to high back to low puck movement after Mason McTavish hit the far post moments earlier, it was a reward for how the Blues managed the period:

Power play goal for St. Louis!

Scored by Jimmy Snuggerud with 06:53 left in the 1st. Assisted by Philip Broberg and Robert Thomas.

NSH: 0 | STL: 1#STLvsNSH#Smashville#StlBluespic.twitter.com/zb2Y1QNkqh

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 7, 2026

And let’s be honest here, the line that was leading the way with the physicality especially and leaving their fellow linemates in good areas on the ice was the Pius Suter line with Alexey Toropchenko and Ross Johnston.

“We had guys playing their asses off today,” Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. “I thought there were guys playing good hockey. I think our fourth line, Suter, ‘Torp’ and ‘Boss’ were playing great, leading the way with physicality. That’s just something we’ve got to replicate. We’ve all got to play like that more consistently. It’s a consistency thing and we definitely have to learn from that.”

But then came Nashville’s fifth-ranked power play to do what it does, and it came after a bad slashing minor by Adam Jiricek, a penalty that he will learn from and one he didn’t need to take.

Jiricek seemed to have a beat on the puck along the D-zone wall on Nils Hoglander but decided to take a whack with his stick and was called for slashing, and in the end, Steven Stamkos made the Blues’ sixth-ranked penalty kill pay when the Predators got bodies to the net off Filip Forsberg’s shot, and after a loose puck was swiped away from Joel Hofer, Stamkos deposited a one-timer to tie the game 1-1 at 16:07:

Power play goal for Nashville!

Scored by Steven Stamkos with 03:53 left in the 1st. Assisted by Filip Forsberg and Mavrik Bourque.

NSH: 1 | STL: 1#STLvsNSH#Smashville#StlBluespic.twitter.com/gYEEVrPz7B

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 7, 2026

“It’s not a good penalty, but it’s someone that’s competing,” Montgomery said. “He’s taking the penalty because he’s whacking the guy’s stick to give himself more time. It’s not the best penalty, but he competes. He goes after pucks, he wants to be a difference maker.”

Fair enough, and in the first 17 games, it’s evident Jiricek is wanting to be that player. He will be soon enough.

* Offensive zone time, sustained pressure, forecheck disappeared in second period; allow lead on multiple breakdowns – The formula that worked well in the first period was absent in the middle 20.

The Blues had little to no zone time until the Robert Thomas line had a really good shift and chance in the final minute of the period.

The Blues did come out with a bit of a flurry right at the outset and had four of the first five shots at Juuse Saros, including traffic, which was good in the first period, but then disappeared and Nashville would get 12 of the next 13 shots on goal with the Blues doing a lot of defending and puck-chasing.

“It tailed off because we don’t commit to doing things the right way for 60 minutes,” Montgomery said. “We played a good, hard first 20 minutes. It’s a 1-1 game, we’re playing a good hockey team, we’ve got to stick with it, and you’ve got to keep playing the same way. We were very aggressive going to their net, we were physical, and if you keep doing that, you wear teams down, but right now, people can say it’s different things that we’re not doing, but it’s always something different and we need to be better. We need to be more committed to who we are and we need to work at a harder rate more consistently.”

When Nashville’s Ross Colton put the Predators ahead for good at 2-1 at 9:02 of the period, it was the result of too easy of an transition up ice on a cross-ice pass, and when Jake Neighbours trying to intercept the pass at center ice, all three forwards on the line were caught up ice making it for an easy way for Jack Drury to find Colton in the middle of the ice open in the slot and shot over Hofer’s glove hand:

Nashville goal!

Scored by Ross Colton with 10:58 left in the 2nd. Assisted by Jack Drury and Roman Josi.

NSH: 2 | STL: 1#STLvsNSH#Smashville#StlBluespic.twitter.com/0hDrPA7PW4

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 7, 2026

“I think it’s the same for every game,” Blues forward Connor McMichael said. “We dominate for 20 or so minutes and then we kind of fall asleep and then at the end of the game, we push again. You see what happens when that happens.

“They’re able to pot a few and then we’re playing from behind again and it’s a lot to come back from in this league. Definitely need to figure that out.”

* Why is consistency an issue with this core group – There are players on this team that are new to this, so they’re just trying to figure things out the right way.

For the players that have been at this for multiple seasons, it’s the same story game in, game out.

You hear the talk, and they say the right things regarding consistency and yet, it’s the word that continually comes back up game after game after game. When they find it, they don’t sustain it, and that’s a problem and has been.

Someone with a voice needs to step up and hold somebody accountable. It’s been beyond time.

“Your leaders need to set the standard, and they need to hold players accountable to it, that’s including coaches and then the foot soldiers in behind them, have to carry that torch as well,” Montgomery said.

“We’re having consistency problems, I’d say,” Holloway said. “We string together a good five minutes and then make some crucial mistakes that affect the game. As a group, we’ve got to worry about our consistency more. We need more for sure. I think guys are trying to pull in the right direction. There’s just some inconsistencies right now that we need to clean up.”

* Net front is trending up – That’s one area that the consistency seems to be on the up and up. The Blues are making an effort to get to the net more. It was evident again. Do they need more of it? Yes. Is it trending up? Yes. Saturday was about finding loose pucks, and it just wasn’t there.

“We get chances, but if you get the chances and you’re not scoring, it doesn’t really matter,” Holloway said. “It’s a results-based business. We need to start finding our way to put those in. Our mindset to get to the net more, it showed last game. We were able to string a couple goals together but didn’t get the result we wanted. And then tonight I thought we were generating chances, but the consistency is the problem for us.”

“I think when we’re at the top of our game, we’re keeping it simple,” McMichael said. “I think we’re a heavy team that is usually good on the forecheck. Whenever we stray away from that, that’s when we get into trouble, get a little too cute and a little too soft. Just stick to our game and that’s what we need to do.”

But it was evident in this game when Nashville got the lead, the Predators, who beat the Blues here 5-2 on Oct. 17, were committed to defending and protecting the lead, clogging up the middle of the ice and not giving the Blues any free ice.

“You can accept the middle of the ice being clogged up or you can travel through it,” Montgomery said. “We need to travel through it.

“Not (enough traffic) in the second period. First period, yes. In the third period when you’re trailing, there should be more opportunities than we had.”

Nick Perbix added the nail in the coffin with an empty-net goal at 18:31 to seal it after the Blues pulled Hofer.

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