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Predators post 12th consecutive win over Blues

Dec 27, 2006 - 5:57 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The Nashville Predators called upon a different hero for the same old result against the St. Louis Blues.

Alexander Radulov scored in the fourth round of the shootout and Paul Kariya added a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to their 12th consecutive victory over the Blues, a 3-2 triumph.

In winning for the seventh time in eight overall contests, Nashville defeated St. Louis for the third straight game after regulation and is undefeated against the Blues since April 3, 2004.

"The last three or four games against St. Louis have been really tough," Kariya said. "They have been playing really well defensively and (goaltender Manny) Legace is playing really well in net. We need to score on the 5-on-3 and on the 4-on-3 in overtime, but we still won the game."

"We took too many penalties in the second, which basically killed any momentum we gained in the first," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "St. Louis has played with a lot of purpose in their game. ... They are playing the way I think that they are capable of."

Radulov sealed the victory when he beat Legace inside the right goalpost, which snapped the Blues' season-high three-game winning streak.

"I try to work on the shootout all the time in practice," Radulov said. "I try not to decide where I am going to go with the puck before, because you never know how the goalie is going to play you. I saw him come out a little bit too far out of the net, and I just decided to deke it and I scored."

St. Louis had a chance to take the edge in the shootout in the second round when netminder Chris Mason made a pad save on Martin Rucinsky but knocked the puck toward the goal line with his stick. However, video replay confirmed the puck did not completely cross the line.

"I knew it was close," Mason said. "I kicked it out, and it hit my stick and came back. I didn't think that it was a goal, but I knew it was close."

Nashville took advantage of Jamal Mayers' roughing penalty to snap a 1-1 tie at 8:19 of the third period. Scott Hartnell scored his 14th goal on the doorstep when he redirected Kariya's feed from the right corner past Legace.

"They have played us hard the last few games," Hartnell said. "It seems like we can't get a break, and they have been coming after us. It has been hard. These have all been really close games. Legace played really well tonight."

Bill Guerin evened the score roughly 2 1/2 minutes later with a wrister from the left faceoff circle that found the gap between netminder Chris Mason's legs. It was his 16th tally of the season and eighth in 12 contests.

"We didn't quit," Guerin said. "We kept fighting back and fighting back. We got a great effort from Manny tonight, too. I wish we would have started a little stronger, but our game got better as we went along."

Kariya opened the scoring at 1:21 of the second period and Mason made 30 saves for Nashville.

Radek Dvorak netted his fifth tally of the campaign and Legace stopped 27 shots for the Blues.

"Nashville has a great team and they are where they are for a reason," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "But we are trying to create a little bit of a rivalry here and let them know that you may beat us, but we will compete hard."