NASHVILLE, Tenn (AP) — After a slow start to the season, veteran Nashville Predators center Steven Stamkos has rediscovered his scoring touch with a four-goal outing through two periods against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
The 35-year-old scored twice in the first period and then added two more in the second in the Predators’ 7-2 win. The four-goal outing was the second of Stamkos’ 18-year career.
He previously scored four times in 7-4 win at Edmonton on Dec. 14, 2023, while with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Stamkos is suddenly surging. After being limited to four goals in his first 22 games of the season, he now has eight in his past eight outings. He also increased his career total to 594, which ranks 22nd on the NHL list, and seven short of matching Jari Kurri.
Stamkos opened the scoring 8:22 in by batting in his own rebound on a two-on-one break. He made it 2-0 just under three minutes later by converting a rebound in front after Jordan Binnington stopped Roman Josi’s initial shot from the blue line.
Stamkos completed his 15th career hat-trick by beating Binnington with a shot from the high slot to put Nashville up 5-1 at the 12:06 mark of the second period. His fourth goal came 3:27 later, when Josi’s shot deflected onto Stamkos’ stick in front, from where he backhanded it in behind Binnington.
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