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Predators lose to Blues in another SO

Jan 22, 2013 - 4:14 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - T.J. Oshie's shootout goal lifted the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday at Bridgestone Arena.

St. Louis backup goaltender Brian Elliot, who relieved starter Jaroslav Halak midway through the second period, saved all 13 shots he faced in regulation before stopping Craig Smith's wrister to open the shootout.

Oshie then beat Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne with a backhand, and after Elliot saved a backhand attempt from Martin Erat, Alexander Steen sealed the win with a backhand of his own.

Rookie Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored two goals in his NHL debut in Saturday's 6-0 rout of Detroit, kept his torrid start going with a goal and two assists, while Andy McDonald and Alex Pietrangelo also lit the lamp for the Blues.

Patric Hornqvist tallied a goal and two assists, while Colin Wilson and Mike Fisher each scored once for the Predators, who were coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to Columbus in their season opener. Rinne finished with 36 saves in defeat.

"We haven't been beaten in a game," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "We've been beaten in a little bit of a skills competition."

With the game locked at 2-2 midway through the second, Nashville took advantage of a power play to jump in front. Erat slid a pass down low to Hornqvist, who stepped in front and flipped a backhand past Halak to give the Predators a 3-2 edge with 7:07 left.

Halak was promptly pulled in favor of Elliot, who kept the Blues within striking distance until the offense broke through with just under eight minutes left in the third.

Jaden Schwartz ripped a shot from outside the left circle that deflected off the stick of Tarasenko in front and bounced directly to Pietrangelo, who rifled a shot from a sharp angle below the right circle that sailed high over a sprawling Rinne to knot the game at 3-3 at the 12:10 mark.

"I was really happy with the way we stuck with it in the third," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said. "We just kept coming and coming and coming."

Both goaltenders stood tall from there to send the game to an extra session. St. Louis recorded all six shots in overtime, but Rinne was up the task, making multiple highlight-reel saves to keep the Blues off the board and send the game to a shootout.

Early on, Nashville struck first when Wilson broke free and fired a wrister past Halak at the 9:10 mark, but St. Louis answered just over a minute later when Tarasenko drove down the right wing and carried the puck into the slot before ripping a wrister past Rinne's blocker to tie the game at the 10:28 mark.

The Blues pulled in front later in the frame on a power-play tally from McDonald, but the Predators responded just over two minutes later with a power-play goal of their own, as Fisher finished a one-timer from the slot to knot the game at 2-2 at the 17:13 mark.

Game Notes

Nashville will embark on a seven-game road trip that is set to begin Tuesday at Minnesota ... Kevin Shattenkirk added two assists for the Blues ... Erat finished with two assists for the Predators ... St. Louis went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Nashville finished 2-for-6 on the man-advantage.