Blues 3, Predators 0
Associated Press

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ST. LOUIS (AP) - Brian Elliott has no explanation for the record-setting roll he's on.

Elliott made 24 saves for his third straight shutout and Jamie Langenbrunner broke a scoreless tie in the second period to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 3-0 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.

"If I knew the answer to that one, I'd write a book," he said. "It's something to be proud of. But there's still a lot of work to do."

Elliott ran his team-record scoreless streak to 186:33, and earned his league-leading ninth shutout.

St. Louis, which improved to 30-4-4 at home, has an NHL-leading 105 points - two ahead of the New York Rangers in the battle for the President's Trophy. St. Louis leads Vancouver by four points in the Western Conference standings.

"You get out there and you work hard to get that winning feeling," Elliott said, "It's just day-by-day and a lot of hard work."

Elliott improved to 23-9-3 and eclipsed the mark of 186:15 set by Manny Legace from Dec.28, 2007 to Jan. 28, 2008. Nashville, which needs one point to earn a playoff spot, snapped a two-game winning streak.

David Perron and T.J. Oshie added third-period goals for the Blues. Perron scored his 17th of the season at 4:47 and Oshie got his 19th to make it 3-0 with 4 minutes to go.

Oshie also assisted on Perron's goal and David Backes added two assists.

Elliott and Jaroslav Halak have combined for a franchise-record 15 shutouts to tie the expansion-era mark set by Chicago's Tony Esposito in 1969-70.

The Blues have given up a league-low 147 goals this season. They have allowed two goals or less in 22 of 28 games since the All-Star break.

The success of the duo has impressed players throughout the league including Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who made 21 saves but fell to 41-17-8.

"They keep playing great and 15 shutouts this year as a team, that's pretty unbelievable," Rinne said. "It's a great job. He was just amazing tonight."

Langenbrunner scored his sixth goal at 6:35 off a drop pass from Jason Arnott. Langenbrunner snapped a shot past Pekka Rinne, who fell to 41-17-8. Rinne had stopped 48 of 50 shots in winning his last two starts.

Langenbrunner was appearing in his 1,100th game. The Duluth, Minn., native is the 21st American-born player to reach the 1,100-game plateau.

"We came out with a lot of focus," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "They grabbed it in the second and we took it back in the third. That's a nice feeling."

Elliott made 20 saves over the first two periods, including stopping Alexander Radulov from close range in the first. Elliott has not given up a goal since Carolina's Jeff Skinner scored with 2:38 left in the third period of a 2-0 loss March 15.

The Predators were without leading scorer Martin Erat, who missed his second game in a row with an upper-body injury. Winger Jordin Tootoo, injured in a fight with Chicago winger Brandon Bollig on Sunday, also missed the contest.

NOTES: Nashville coach Barry Trotz has 499 career wins. ... St. Louis has allowed two or fewer goals in 22 of 28 games since the All-Star break. ... The Blues have points in nine of their last 11 games against Nashville. ... Elliott and Jaroslav Halak have combined for a franchise-record 15 shutouts this season. ... Nashville is 15-4-3 against Central Division foes.


Three star selections
1st:   BRIAN ELLIOTT
2nd:   JAMIE LANGENBRUNNER
3rd:   ALEX STEEN
Winning Goaltender
Brian Elliott

Losing Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

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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