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NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- Defenseman Jay McKee helped
the St. Louis Blues find another way to lose to the Nashville
Predators. J.P. Dumont's pass attempt went in off McKee's skate with 4:12
remaining in the third period, snapping a tie and giving the
Predators a 3-2 victory over the Blues, who have lost 13
straight in the series. Entering without a win over Nashville since April 3, 2004, St.
Louis battled back from a pair of deficits in this one. But
with defenseman Dennis Wideman in the penalty box late in the
third, Nashville found a way to remain unbeaten against its
Central Division rival over the last two seasons. "It's surprising," Nashville's Steve Sullivan said. "They've
worked hard to better themselves. They have a great work ethic
and they are playing well of late." Attempting to feed Sullivan in the low slot from the right
faceoff dot, Dumont watched the puck carom off McKee's right
skate and into the net for his ninth goal of the campaign and
first in six games. "I saw Sully come on the back door to come in front of the net
for the tip play," Dumont said. "Lucky for me, I missed him and
it hit the skate of the defenseman there, I think it was McKee,
and went in. ... We had a good bounce tonight." "That's a tough bounce," McKee said. "When a team is as hot as
they are and play as well at home, they don't win as many games
as they do without getting bounces like that. I knew they were
looking for the high tip play, which a lot of teams do, and I
tried to get up on Sullivan there and it just caught me on the
heel on the way through." The stroke of luck improved the Predators' record to 5-0-0 this
campaign over the Blues, who were swept of their eight-game set
in 2005-06. Of Nashville's 13 straight wins over St. Louis,
eight have been decided by one goal and another two featured
empty-net tallies. "Every team has a team that every time you play them, it is
always a tight game," Dumont said. "This year, St. Louis has
played us extremely well. Every time we play St. Louis, we know
it's going to be a tight game. We have to make sure we show up
for 60 minutes, like we did tonight." "There hasn't been one easy game with St. Louis," Predators
goaltender Chris Mason added. "Every game could have gone the
other way. We've maybe had a bit of luck or we've been
opportunistic. We've had a couple of shootouts and overtime.
Every game has just been hard-fought." Jason Arnott had a goal and an assist and rookie Alexander
Radulov set up a pair of tallies for Nashville, which raised its
mark to 11-3-1 vs. divisional foes. "(The Blues) play us hard every game, and they are great hockey
games," Arnott said. "Tonight, we came out on top. It was a
close call right there to the end." Making his 21st consecutive start, Mason made 35 saves for the
Predators, who have won 10 of 13. "I feel I am playing well right now," said Mason, whose time as
a starter likely is coming to an end with Tomas Vokoun dressed
as the backup Saturday. "I love playing, and playing every
game." Vokoun is expected to start Nashville's game against Anaheim on
Tuesday. "That's the plan right now," Predators coach Barry Trotz said.
"That's why he was on the bench tonight. He says he is ready to
go, and he is our No. 1 goalie, so you just say, 'He's ready
and he's going in.'" Martin Rucinsky and Lee Stempniak tallied for St. Louis, which
failed to earn at least one point for the first time in five
road games. "There is no such thing as a moral victory or feeling any kind
of gratification in losing a hockey game, no matter how hard you
play," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "Like Andy mentioned, there are no moral victories," St. Louis'
Jamal Mayers added. "We need to find a way to win these games." Vernon Fiddler opened the scoring at 2:08 of the first period,
netting his fifth of the season. It was the first goal allowed
by the Blues in the opening session in 13 games under Murray. "Andy has St. Louis playing really well right now," Trotz said.
"This is their push. We've got a little bit of a streak going
against them, and they are trying to break that. They played a
really solid game." St. Louis drew even with 1:47 left in the period with its own
fluke tally. Carrying down the right side, Rucinsky attempted a
cross-slot pass that deflected off the stick of diving
defenseman Dan Hamhuis and past Mason for his ninth goal. The Predators moved back in front during a power play midway
through the second on a snap shot from the left faceoff circle
by Arnott, who extended his goal-scoring streak to three games. "The passing from J.P. and Sully really helps out a lot," Arnott
said of his recent success. "I just try to find the openings
and let it go. When you get great passes like that, it makes
the shot a lot easier. It's been working well." However, the lead did not last long as Stempniak netted his
third in four contests with his own snap shot from the right
circle 17 seconds later.
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