Written by Jeremy Rutherford at St.Louis Dispatch.com
The Blues managed only one goal for the second consecutive game, so they have little to complain about in terms of not winning Game 4 against Nashville on Tuesday. But they weren’t happy with a turn of events that triggered the Predators’ 2-1 victory.
There was extracurricular activity throughout the game between members of the fourth lines, but when it happened with 15 minutes, 49 seconds left in regulation, the penalties handed out were not what many except the crowd of 17,273 at Bridgestone Arena might have expected.
The sequence resulted with the Blues’ Joel Edmundson and Ryan Reaves, along with Nashville’s Cody McLeod, being assessed roughing penalties, and on the ensuing power play Ryan Ellis broke open the scoring. The Predators added a goal by James Neal with 6:57 to play, and that stood as the game-winner after Edmundson scored with 3:49 to go.
The game finished close, but the Western Conference semifinal is no longer that, with Nashville’s victory building a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series that now heads back to Scottrade Center for Game 5 on Friday.
The Blues know one goal per game won’t cut it against the Predators and admitted that a too many men on the ice penalty on the power play in Game 4 was costly, but they all left Music City singing the same tune about the turning point in Tuesday’s game.
“I think it’s a terrible call,” Reaves said. “I disagree with it 100 percent. There’s 10 guys all grabbing one guy and you pick one extra on one team in a crucial part of the game in a big series … I think it’s bad judgment.”
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