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Boyes, Toivonen lead Blues to third straight win

Nov 18, 2007 - 5:27 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Brad Boyes did his best to make Hannu Toivonen's rare start a successful one.

Boyes scored the lone goal of the shootout and Toivonen made 35 saves as the St. Louis Blues extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-2 triumph over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

Rookie David Perron also scored for the Blues, who host the Predators on Monday in the back end of their home-and-home series.

"Well, you win a couple of big games and then come in here tonight and get a win against a team that's been playing better than any other team in the National Hockey League for the last two to three weeks, it feels pretty good, for sure," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "We got timely goals tonight when we needed to have them."

"It was a really good game," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Sometimes you play a good game and don't get rewarded, so we just have to go to St. Louis and get the points back."

After a scoreless third period and overtime, Perron began the shootout by ringing a shot off the right goalpost. Toivonen followed with a save on Nashville's J.P. Dumont, and neither team was able to score in the second round.

Kicking off the third round of the bonus format, Boyes - who also tallied in regulation - deked to his backhand before sliding the puck around goaltender Chris Mason, giving St. Louis the edge.

"I tried to stick with the one move since I was having trouble last year deciding what move to use at the last minute," Boyes said. "I didn't want to think about it too much. I just went, and it went in."

Toivonen closed out the victory by preventing Alexander Radulov from sliding the puck under him.

"I wasn't sure right away if I had it," Toivonen said of the save. "I thought I just felt it under my body, so I was pretty sure that it hadn't gone in.

"I just try to take as much of the net away as possible and have them make the first move. Tonight, it worked."

The Finnish netminder, who was making just his fourth start of the season, turned aside seven shots in the first and third periods and 15 in the second before making six saves in overtime.

"The last two games he played for us were against Columbus, and we didn't score a goal for him, so that was a bit of a theme to get him a win here," Murray said. "I was pleased to see him end it in the shootout with a save since he's played so well for us. You need to have good goaltending to win."

"There were a lot of rebounds and loose pucks, but he battled and the pucks didn't find the back of the net," Trotz said. "Sometimes as a coach, you don't want the style points but the win, and he got that."

Radulov opened the scoring with 4:06 remaining in the first period.

Defenseman Shea Weber's wrist shot from the right faceoff dot was stopped by Toivonen. The goaltender thought he had the puck in his equipment, but it landed at his feet, and Radulov was there to pounce on the rebound, sliding it in for his fifth goal of the season.

Weber has been sidelined with a dislocated kneecap, which he suffered in the first period of the season-opener against Colorado on October 4.

"He did pretty well in his first game back," Trotz said. "There were times when it got a bit hairy and things got rough, but for the most part, he did a real good job given the layoff and the amount of practice he has had."

The Blues tied the game at 12:43 of the middle session on a goal by Boyes.

With the teams skating four aside, Boyes unleashed a wrist shot from the right circle that was blocked. The puck came right back to Boyes, who put it past Mason from the slot for his 11th of the season and second in as many nights.

"I didn't really see it go in," Boyes said. "I think that it went off of their defenseman in front, but hey, I'll take it. They were coming at us pretty hard there, so it was nice to get that goal."

Perron staked the Blues to a 2-1 lead exactly five minutes later. The 19-year-old received a pass from Lee Stempniak and, while alone at the top of the crease, lifted a backhander under the crossbar with 2:17 left in the second for his fifth tally.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Jordin Tootoo skated across the top of the crease and deflected Martin Gelinas' shot past Toivonen 57 seconds later to forge a 2-2 tie.

It was Tootoo's career-high fifth goal of the season.

David Legwand tied a franchise record and came closer to another for Nashville, which fell to 9-1-0 when scoring the game's first goal.

Legwand, who was drafted second overall in 1998, passed Greg Johnson for second place in team history by playing in his 503rd game and tied Kimmo Timonen for the club's all-time scoring lead by notching his 301st point with an assist on Radulov's tally.

Mason made 18 saves for the Predators, who had won three in a row and six of seven.

"We got a point, but the thing with a shootout is that you play a good game and then you lost it, it's a disappointment," Mason said. "We played hard, so we need to build on the way we've been playing lately."