Predators 0 - 2 Blues
Final
  for this game

Homeward bound: Preds aim to lock up fourth seed vs. Blues

Apr 9, 2011 - 3:31 PM (Sports Network) - If the Nashville Predators want home ice-advantage in the first round of the playoffs, they'll have to pick up a victory on the road.

The Predators will try to close out the regular season with a third straight win this evening as they battle the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

Nashville clinched its first playoff spot in three years with a 4-1 home win over Columbus last night. Pekka Rinne made 44 saves and Patric Hornqvist had two goals and an assist to help the Predators improve to 9-1-1 in their last 11 games.

With 99 points, the Predators are tied with the Coyotes for the fourth spot in the Western Conference with one game to play. Both clubs have 38 non-shootout wins and split their four-game season series, so Nashville owns the tiebreaker with a better goal differential.

Phoenix also wraps its regular season tonight with a road game at San Jose.

The Preds are also just a point ahead of the Kings and two up on both the Ducks and Blackhawks in the standings. Both Los Angeles and Anaheim are also in action tonight.

Home ice would be big for the Predators, who went 24-9-8 as the hosting club this season.

"We've got some unfinished business yet," Nashville head coach Barry Trotz said after last night's win. "We said we want to go as high as we can, and if we can get two more points (Saturday) night that'd be huge for us as a team and an organization. You're talking about maybe a possibility of home ice. Home ice has been an advantage for us this last month, so we'll take it right now."

Forwards Sergei Kostitsyn and Mike Fisher will also look to extend streaks tonight. Kostitsyn scored a goal in Friday's win and has seven goals and eight assists over a career-best 11-game point streak, while Fisher's assist gave him four goals and four helpers during a six-game run.

The Blues will try to close out their regular season with a victory after having a two-game win streak end with Wednesday's 4-3 overtime setback to the Blackhawks.

David Backes matched a career high with his 31st goal of the season, tying his 2008-09 personal best, Chris Stewart had the game-tying goal in the third period and T.J. Oshie also lit the lamp. Ty Conklin made 35 saves in his 200th NHL contest.

"I thought the flow of the game was working in the right direction," Blues head coach Davis Payne said.

The Blues, who are 22-13-5 at home this season, will miss the postseason for a second straight year.

These two division rivals will meet tonight for the first time since Dec. 26 in St. Louis. Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves for a shutout and Backes scored twice in the 2-0 win, the Blues' second straight and third in five meetings with the Predators this season.

Nashville had won five of six in this series last season and had a five-game winning streak at Scottrade Center snapped in the December loss.






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