Nashville tried its best to erase a two-goal deficit, but St. Louis would not be denied the victory and hung on to win, 5-4.
St. Louis made the score 5-3 on a goal by Ezekiel Estrada at 4:09 in the third period, and Nashville got as close as 5-4 when Logan Orem scored 13:09 into the third period.
After the loss made the series score 1-0 in the best of three series, Nashville faces elimination next time out.
St. Louis did not rack up many penalties in the contest, finishing with a minimal one minor for two minutes in penalty time.
St. Louis also had goals scored by Tomas Loeffelman and CJ Nitchen, who scored one goal each. More assists for St. Louis came via Cameron McAtee, who had two, Dominic Caito, who had three, and Jacob Weatherly, Joe Nolan, and Alex Klaesner, who contributed one each.
Nashville forced St. Louis goalie Weatherly to work between the pipes, taking 38 shots. Nashville did not rack up many penalties in the contest, tallying only one minor for two minutes in penalty time.
Nashville was helped by Kyle Van Wyk, who tallied two goals. Van Wyk scored the first of his two goals at 16:43 into the first period to make the score 2-1 St. Louis. Van Wyk\’s next tally made the score 3-3 with 31 seconds left in the second period. Nashville had gained a power play chance when McAtee was whistled for hooking. Nicholas Redmon picked up the assist. Nashville additionally got points from Orem, who also finished with one goal and one assist and Dylan Schmidt, who also grabbed one goal and one assist to lead the team in points. In addition, Nashville received assists from Trent Kulczyk, who had one.
St. Louis\’ Weatherly stopped 34 shots out of the 38 that he faced. St. Louis registered one goal on one power play opportunities. Ricky Gonzalez made 18 saves for Nashville on 23 shots. Nashville registered one goal on one power play opportunities.
