HOCKEY: Steven Stamkos scores 4 to help Predators rout Blues

Steven Stamkos erupted for four goals Thursday night, leading the Nashville Predators to a dominant 7–2 victory over the St. Louis Blues.

Ryan O’Reilly, Filip Forsberg, and Michael Bunting also scored for Nashville, which has now won six of its last eight games. Luke Evangelista fueled the offense with three assists, while Fedor Svechkov, Matthew Wood, Nick Blankenberg, and Roman Josi each added two helpers. Juuse Saros finished with 24 saves in the win.

Hugh McGing and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues, who have dropped four of their last six. Jordan Binnington surrendered six goals on 25 shots across two periods before being replaced by Joel Hofer.

Stamkos opened the scoring at 8:22 of the first period, converting a 2-on-1 rush by firing from the left wing and batting in his own rebound. He struck again at 11:19, cleaning up another rebound—this time from the slot off a shot by Josi—to make it 2–0.

McGing, called up from the AHL as an injury replacement, cut the lead to 2–1 at 4:17 of the second period with his first NHL goal, set up by a quick one-touch pass from Robby Fabbri.

Nashville answered with crisp tic-tac-toe passing that ended with Evangelista feeding O’Reilly for a shot from the left circle, restoring a two-goal lead. Forsberg then made it 4–1 at 11:43 after breaking in cleanly on another setup from Evangelista. Just 13 seconds later, a Stamkos pass deflected off Blues defenseman Justin Faulk and into the net for a 5–1 Nashville advantage.

Thomas briefly halted the Predators’ surge, scoring on a turnaround shot from the right faceoff circle less than two minutes later. But Nashville continued to press, and Stamkos completed his hat trick by knocking in a loose puck with 4:27 left in the period to make it 6–2.

Bunting capped the scoring in the third period with a power-play goal, again set up by an excellent feed from Evangelista, sealing a convincing 7–2 Predators victory. -Field Level Media/Reuters