Predators 4, Blues 3
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) -The Predators scored four goals in a row, and turned out to need every one.

Shea Weber assisted on three of the goals and the Predators held off the St. Louis Blues 4-3 Tuesday night.

"You knew they were going to have a big push because we were outskating them, they took some poor penalties and some really aggressive penalties and we capitalized on them," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "I'm sure they got scolded a little bit and they have a lot of pride. They're-well coached and they have a lot of good players over there that really bear down and tried to get back in the game."

Marcel Goc, Patric Hornqvist, Joel Ward and J.P. Dumont all scored for the Predators, who are 24-6-3 against St. Louis since 2005-06.

The Blues, who got a goal and an assist from Alex Steen and goals from Carlo Colaiacovo and Andy McDonald, own the league's worst home record at 6-13-2. They've lost seven of their last eight at home.

Pekka Rinne stopped 24 shots for the Predators.

"They kept coming and coming you know you have to give credit to those guys," Rinne said. "They played hard, they battled hard to the end, but I think we managed the game really well even though we were under the pressure. Our guys did a great job."

Colaiacovo gave the Blues a 1-0 lead 1:29 into the game, before Goc tied it at 5:04 of the first. Hornqvist made it 2-1 at 12:43.

The Blues were hit with three penalties totaling eight minutes in a span of 1:45 early in the second period and Ward made them pay with a 5-on-3 goal at 4:09.

"It's definitely tough to get momentum killing penalties," said Blues goalie and former Predator Chris Mason. "The first two periods, we could have been a lot better."

Dumont made it 4-1 5:16 into the third after blowing past defenseman Darryl Sydor along the right side and sneaking a shot inside the near post past goalie Chris Mason, who stopped 26 shots.

The Blues made a charge with Steen's score at 9:08 of the third and McDonald got a power-play goal at 12:30.

"It was intense," Weber said. "There were body checks, guys sticking up for each other, a good flow both ways. They came back, we had the momentum early. They got it back in the third period and made it close."

NOTES: Steen has three goals in two games and nine points in the last six games. ... Blues D Erik Johnson, the top overall pick of the 2006 draft, was a healthy scratch. ... Blues LW Paul Kariya missed the game with an upper-body injury. Kariya took an elbow to the head in the first period during Sunday's 5-3 loss to Buffalo. ... Predators RW Martin Erat has 10 goals in 13 games after beginning the season with four in 24 games. ... Nashville C Jason Arnott has 17 points in 20 games.


Three star selections
1st:   SHEA WEBER
2nd:   JEAN-PIERRE DUMONT
3rd:   ALEXANDER STEEN
Winning Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

Losing Goaltender
Chris Mason

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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