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  Monday, Nov. 22 8:00pm ET
Blues bombard Predators for win
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Mike Eastwood got a good look at the game-winning goal he scored in overtime Monday night.

Craig Conroy
St. Louis' Craig Conroy, left, looks to make a pass while Nashville's Mark Mowers comes in to check him behind the net.

"Everybody was scrambling for the puck and it bounced right to me," Eastwood said after the St. Louis Blues beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in overtime.

Nashville goaltender Mike Dunham had his own view of the game-winner.

"The puck bounced of Drake's (Berehowsky's) shin pad and I couldn't react in time," Dunham said.

The goal was the second of the game for Eastwood and boosted the Blues overtime record to record to 3-0-2.

Eastwood said the new rule allowing four skaters per team in overtime is having the desired results.

"It's fun for the fans, and for the players," he said. "I'm not sure it's good hockey to have a losing team still get a point, but you can't complain about anything that makes the game more exciting."

Dunham said the Blues were aggressive in overtime while the Predators were playing cautiously.

"I don't know why, but we didn't go after the puck like the Blues did," he said. "There wasn't any reason not to. We're not going to lose anything by giving up a goal."

Blues coach Joel Quenneville said any team that has the puck in overtime should be trying to win.

"I don't think you play conservatively in that four-on-four situation," he said. "You should be going for the win."

The losing team in overtime still gets a point while the winner gets two points.

The two points the Blues earned moved them into a first-place tie with Detroit in the Central Division.

Roman Turek, who started the season with three straight losses, extended his unbeaten streak to six games and faced only 10 shots. Turek has allowed 10 goals during the stretch in which the Blues are 4-0-2.

The Predators were held to a franchise-low nine shots in regulation. Their previous low was 14 against Dallas last Dec. 28. Nashville, outshot by St. Louis 37-10, had only one shot in the third period.

Ville Peltonen tied the game 2-2 with a power play goal at 13:27 of the second period. Peltonen knocked in a rebound of Greg Johnson's shot for his third goal.

The Blues led 2-1 after the first period on goals by Eastwood and Lubos Bartecko.

Nashville scored first on a deflected power-play goal by Sergei Krivokrasov at 4:59. Kimmo Timonen fired a shot from inside the blue line that Krivokrasov deflected between Turek's legs. Timonen had two assists in the game.

Eastwood tied the score at 7:43 after taking a pass from Tyson Nash in front of the Nashville goal. Eastwood lifted the puck over Dunham for his sixth goal.

The Blues took a 2-1 lead at 17:03 on Bartecko's power play goal. Pavol Demitra slid a cross-ice pass to Bartecko who beat Dunham with a slap shot.

Nashville had only three shots in the first period, and did not take its fourth shot until the five-minute mark of the second period. They managed only one shot in the third.

Dunham held off a Blues charge at the end of the second when Nashville was a man short. Dunham made a sprawling save on a hard slap shot by Al MacInnis from the top of the left faceoff circle. He then stopped Demitra on a breakaway to keep the game tied.

The Blues were without Pierre Turgeon, who injured his back Saturday and is listed as day-to-day.

 


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AUDIO/VIDEO
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 Pavol Demitra sets up the power-play goal.
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