Blues vs Predators

Filip Forsberg comes into this one scorching hot, fresh off a multi-goal night on Long Island and with 10 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games against St. Louis, while Roman Josi just hit the 200-goal milestone as the captain of a Nashville team that’s 19-11-2 in its last 32 and has taken four of a possible six points on its recent road swing. The Predators are back home at Bridgestone, where they’ve historically handled the Blues 36-21-3-7 at home and 19 wins in the last 34 meetings overall, and they’ve already won two of three in this season’s series, scoring at least four in both victories. St. Louis, meanwhile, has dropped six of its last seven, sits eighth in the Central, and is traveling in with a battered forward group that’s missing leading scorer Robert Thomas until after the Olympic break, plus Dylan Holloway on injured reserve and Jake Neighbours banged up, while Nashville’s injury sheet is limited to depth defender Nick Blankenburg day-to-day. Even if Juuse Saros’ lifetime numbers vs. the Blues are merely average, he’s stabilized of late behind a group whose special teams are trending among the league’s better units, whereas Jordan Binnington’s 8-16-6 mark underscores how often St. Louis is getting outplayed when he starts. With Nashville only a few points out of a Western Conference wild-card spot and the Blues already in long-shot territory, motivation, form, health, and matchup history all lean toward the home side; I’m willing to lay the 150 on the Predators moneyline and grade it a B+ for solid win probability and reasonable—but not elite—value at this price. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/02/2026 09:30

Given how this matchup has played out and where both teams are right now, a total of 6 feels a touch low: Nashville has been playing in up-tempo, high-event games, including a 4-3 win over the Islanders on Saturday and a 7-2 rout of these Blues in December, and has now scored a power-play goal in seven of its last 10 games 9-for-32 while icing a top unit built around Forsberg, Steven Stamkos and Ryan O’Reilly. nhl.com The season series has already produced finals of 7-2, 5-2 and 3-2, and Forsberg’s track record against St. Louis—25 goals and 25 assists in 45 career games, with 10 goals in his last 10—suggests the Predators’ top line is well-positioned to exploit a Blues side that just gave up five to Columbus and is missing Thomas, Holloway and a less-than-100-percent Neighbours up front. nhl.com St. Louis can still contribute offensively through Jordan Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich, who has 3 points in 3 games vs. Nashville this season and recently posted a two-goal night in a 3-2 Blues win over the Preds, but their defensive structure has frayed during a 1-5-1 slide and the goaltending tandem of Binnington and Joel Hofer has alternated between solid and leaky against this opponent. nhl.com With Nashville’s five-on-five scoring depth, an aggressive forecheck that tends to force turnovers against slower blue lines, and a Blues team that often chases games and opens up in the third, I expect enough chances both ways for at least one side to push into the four-goal range and the other to chip in, making Over 6 at 110 a B-grade play that carries decent upside despite the inherent volatility tied to Saros’ and Binnington’s swingy form. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/02/2026 09:30

For those chasing a bigger return on Nashville’s edge, the puckline leans toward the Predators covering -1.5, even at 150, because when they beat the Blues they tend to do it by margin: this season includes a 7-2 blowout in St. Louis and a 5-2 win keyed by Forsberg and Saros, while many of the Blues’ recent losses during their 1-5-1 funk—like the 5-3 defeat in Columbus—have featured late goals against as they press for offense. Nashville’s 19-11-2 surge since late November has been driven by an offense that can snowball quickly—Stamkos already has a four-goal game against the Blues this year, Forsberg just notched another multi-goal night, and O’Reilly is pacing the club with 51 points—while St. Louis arrives undermanned down the middle without Thomas, thin on the wing with Holloway sidelined and Neighbours banged up, and leaning heavily on Binnington and a defense core that has struggled against Nashville’s speed and east-west passing. There is real downside here—Saros is only 3-4-0 with a .873 save percentage in his last seven vs. the Blues, and St. Louis has shown it can grind out a 3-2 type road win behind Kyrou and Buchnevich when it gets structure and goaltending—so I’m grading Predators -1.5 at 150 as a B-: the matchup, current trajectories and injury gap all point to a multi-goal Nashville victory more often than not, but the price and divisional familiarity add enough variance that it should be kept to a smaller stake than the straight moneyline. Odds and availability are subject to change. This bet was made at 02/02/2026 09:30