Blues blow 4-goal lead, extend road losing streak with 6-5 loss to Predators

Matthew DeFranks, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Feb 2, 2026

Published in Hockey

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The St. Louis Blues extended their road losing streak to nine games with a perplexing 6-5 loss to the Predators Monday night in Nashville in which St. Louis blew a four-goal lead.

The Blues opened up a 5-1 lead in the second period, but the Predators stormed back to made it a 5-4 game just 2:02 into the third period, and then tied it 7:14 into the third on Steven Stamkos' first goal of the night.

Stamkos added another with 9:37 remaining in the third period that gave Nashville a 6-5 lead, and proved to be the game-winner.

It was the second time this season that the Blues blew a four-goal lead (also Oct. 25 in Detroit).

Pavel Buchnevich (two goals, one assist) and Jordan Kyrou (three assists) each had three-point games for the Blues, who have not won on the road since Dec. 20 in Florida. The loss extended the club's longest road losing streak since 1982.

Jake Neighbours, Philip Broberg and Colton Parayko also scored for St. Louis. Joel Hofer allowed six goals for the first time since October.

The Blues will finish their pre-Olympics schedule with a game in Dallas on Wednesday night. After facing the Stars, the Blues will not play again until Feb. 26 when they host the Kraken.

Taking over ... or not

The Blues blew the game open early in the second period with three goals in the first 3:55 -- at least it looked that way. St. Louis built a 5-1 lead less than 24 minutes into the game, chasing Saros from the net and forcing Nashville to insert Justus Annunen.

Buchnevich originally broke up a play on the forecheck, then dug out a puck on his way to the net before whizzing one past Saros to make it 3-1 just 45 seconds into the second period. Broberg got a fortunate bounce about 3 1/2 minutes into the period as his shot from the blue line bounced off the end boards and then deflected off Saros.

Parayko extended the lead to four goals just 30 seconds after Broberg, storming down the right wing and finishing a deftly weighted pass from Jimmy Snuggerud.

In total, the Blues had the first 13 shots of the period and 10:57 of the second period elapsed by the time Nashville got a shot on goal. The Predators had 10 of the final 11 shots on goal in the second period, setting the stage for their comeback.

Goals by Michael McCarron and Filip Forsberg allowed the Predators to head into the third period facing a 5-3 deficit. O'Reilly's second of the night just 2:02 into the third period made it a one-goal game, then followed by Stamkos' two key goals.

Staying hot

Since the Blues moved Buchnevich to center in Winnipeg on Jan. 20, the natural winger has produced between wingers Neighbours and Kyrou. Including Monday night's outburst, Neighbours-Buchnevich-Kyrou has combined for 22 points in eight games.

The line struck first at 4:53 of the first period, when Neighbours redirected a pass from defenseman Justin Faulk over Juuse Saros' shoulder to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. After Ryan O'Reilly poked a power-play goal past Hofer that tied the game at 1, the Buchnevich line was back to work.

Buchnevich scored with 5:36 remaining in the first period, firing a shot on the power play after receiving a feed from Neighbours in the corner.

The Blues initially moved Buchnevich to center out of necessity two weeks ago. At the time, the team was without Robert Thomas, Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist, and left with only three natural centers on the NHL roster. That forced Buchnevich into the middle.

But as Suter and Sundqvist have returned to the lineup, the Blues have kept Buchnevich at center with the chemistry he's found with Neighbours and Kyrou.

Finally on the board

When Parayko scored, it was his first goal of the season, as he failed to scored in the first 55 games of the season after scoring 16 times a year ago.

Before Monday night, Parayko, Alexandre Texier (eight games with St. Louis, now with Montreal), Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (five games) and Hunter Skinner (one game) were the only Blues without a goal.

Parayko also played his 779th game with the Blues, tying Brian Sutter for third-most in franchise history.

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