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Crombeen's hat trick lifts Blues over Predators

Dec 9, 2008 - 6:04 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Rookie B.J. Crombeen notched his first career hat trick and Brad Boyes added his 100th career goal to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 6-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Monday.

Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal and added an assist for the Blues, who exploded for three goals in the final four minutes of the third period to blow open a tight game.

Crombeen scored an unassisted goal with 41 seconds left in the first and slammed home the game winner with 3:43 remaining in the third. He added an empty-net goal with 30 seconds remaining to cap the hat trick and also assisted on Patrik Berglund's goal in the second.

Steen split two defenders on the left side, streaked to the net and backhanded the puck to Crombeen, who wristed it past goaltender Pekka Rinne for the eventual game-winner.

"I don't consider myself a goal scorer," Crombeen said. "I can't say I was expecting that going into the game. I was in the right spot at the right time on the first one. (Steen) made a beautiful play on the second one and obviously, the empty net on the third - it was a good night."

"I had a lot of speed along the boards, so I figured I'd give it a try, and B.J. had a good finish," Steen said. "It's fun when those plays work."

The 23-year-old Crombeen played 15 games to the start the season with the Dallas Stars before being picked up by the Blues off waivers on November 18. He entered Monday's contest with one goal and one assist in nine games with St. Louis.

"That line (Crombeen, Steen and center Jay McClement) has had a couple of solid games," Blues coach Andy Murray said. "That they're getting rewarded offensively is gratifying."

Boyes stole some of the rookie's thunder when he deflected defenseman Barret Jackman's slap shot past Rinne 45 seconds later to pick up his 14th goal of the season and 100th in his career.

"The timing was right, everything about it was right, and it was big in the game," Boyes said.

J.P. Dumont and defenseman Kevin Klein scored and rookie Antti Pihlstrom netted his first career NHL goal for the Predators, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

"I'm not sure what happened - a little mental lapse, a little miscommunication," defenseman Shea Weber said. "We haven't been doing that, and it's something we can't do, especially late in the game. We have to get to overtime and salvage at least one point. It can't get away from us like that."

Nashville took a 2-1 lead early in the second period but took interference, holding and high-sticking penalties within one minute of each other in the second, leading to power-play goals by Steen and Berglund that put the Blues on top, 3-2.

"That second period; everything was going our way," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Then we took one penalty, then we took another, which was absolutely ridiculous, then we got a third after the goal, and it cost us another. Two 5-on-3s change the game, and they are a lot better on the power play than they've been, even with their key guys out."

Dumont forged another tie with his seventh goal of the season with 3:03 left in the second.

Rinne, who was named the NHL's "First Star" last week, made 20 saves in suffering his first loss of the season.

"We did everything at their end in the second period and did have nearly enough to show for it," Rinne said. "Then they turned it around on us in the third. It was a tough loss."

Manny Legace made 18 saves to earn the win for St. Louis.