Blues At Predators Morning Open Thread: Honky Tonk Blues

Last night got off to an inauspicious start. Sure, the Canucks had their backup in, but the Blues balanced that out by Chris Stewart getting into a fight with Matt Kassian, a goal redirected off of Roman Polak's skate as he was shot-blocking, and a four-minute high sticking call on Ryan Reaves ended a shaky first period. As the game progressed, the Blues looked like they were getting their sea legs, and clawed back until a costly penalty set up a Canucks power play goal to end overtime.

Basically, a well-rested Blues team had problems with a Canucks team who was beat up, worn out, and generally dog tired. Rust plays into that, sure. There were a lot of positives in that game (Vladimir Sobotka's 86% in the face-off dot is amazing), but this is the second game in a row that the Blues could have won but managed not to.

Also, yes, Steen got taken down (though it looked like he lost an edge in the process), and sure, that was a ticky tack call on Berglund, but two things: don't put yourself in the position to get bad calls and kill the damn penalty, especially when it's for 38 or so seconds. That's pretty damn doable.

The Canucks made the Blues pay. Nashville isn't quite the offensive threat that Vancouver is, but they're a smart team coached by a smart man. The rust is off for the Blues. Time to regroup, take care of the Preds, and add a few more points to the stash.

Check back for a game preview from CCR, your GDT, and a RBR recap.

TTL.