Blues facing elimination after 2-1 loss to Preds

Defenseman Joel Edmunson gave the St. Louis Blues a small consolation, shattering the shutout bid of Pekka Rinne with under four minutes to play, but a 2-1 defeat at Bridgestone Arena to the host Nashville Predators has the Blues on the brink of elimination Tuesday (May 2, 2017).

The lone remaining Midwest based National Hockey League, the Blues earned a split on home ice against the Predators but return home trailing 3-1 in the series and needing three straight wins to avoid a trip to the sidelines.

Both Rinne and Jake Allen in the Blues’ goal kept a clean crease for a huge part of the game. Entering the third period teams were still scoreless, but Ryan Ellis, with his fourth of the season and third in three games, found an opening 5:09 into the final period for the Predators.

James Neal added another with 6:57 to go and Edmunson counted the lone Blues’ goal just over three minutes later.

Rinne turned aside 32 of 33 Blues’ chances while Allen had 23 saves.

Game Five will be played at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday (May 5).