ST. LOUIS _ The "Specialists" have struck again.
That's the name that Blues coach Ken Hitchcock has coined for the fourth line, which accounted for the game-winning goal Saturday night at Scottrade Center when Kyle Brodziak scored his second goal in three games in a 3-1 win over Nashville in front of 18,922 at Scottrade Center.
"That's a little inside thing, but that works though," Brodziak said. "We'll go with that."
The win was the Blues' third straight, matching a season-high mark that they set in the opening three games of the season. All three of these came at home, as the Blues wrapped up their three-game homestand unscathed, improving their record to 8-1-2 at Scottrade Center.
Also in all three games, the club was either tied or leading by just one goal entering the third period and outscored the opposition by a combined score of 5-0 in the final frame.
"We outplayed all three teams," Hitchcock said. "From every aspect of our game _ from special teams to shots on goal to scoring chances _ we outplayed all three teams. That's the No. 1 sign for me. We upped our energy as the game went on. I thought overall, of the three games, this was probably the best game we've played."
Goaltender Jake Allen made 30 saves Saturday against Nashville to move his record to 6-0-2 at home this season. None of his saves loomed larger than one on Nashville's Mattias Ekholm with under nine minutes left in regulation and the Blues clinging to a 2-1 lead on Brodziak's goal.
The stop helped send the puck the other way, where Tarasenko netted his seventh of the season, regaining the team lead in the goal department and giving the Blues some breathing room with 8 minutes, 24 seconds left in regulation.
"I didn't even know where the puck was," Allen said. "All I heard was guys skating away. I knew the puck wasn't around me and next thing I know, Vladi's in the slot down there and makes a nice five-hole shot, which is rarely seen by him."
Playing their second straight game without injured forward Alexander Steen, reached the three-goal plateau for the fourth straight game. It was Brodziak's goal that made the difference Saturday.
Nashville's P.K. Subban attempted to toe-drag in the offensive zone, but the puck was stopped by the skate of teammate Colton Sissons. That allowed the Blues to break out on a 2-on-1 rush with Scottie Upshall and Brodziak hustling down the ice.
"PK Subban is walking the line, it's a bit of a scary moment," Brodziak said. "I'm not sure what happened, but a little turnover and Scotty and I were off to the races. So it was a fortunate bounce, but we'll take it."
Upshall put a shot on net that was stopped by Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, but Brodziak was in position to clean up the rebound for a 2-1 lead with 12:32 left in regulation.
"We work on that shot a lot," Upshall said. "I got Pekka on it last year actually. I knew he knew it was coming, but it was just a great play by Kyle to go far pad, far post. He made a good play to get that puck on his backhand. It was a good goal."
Less than a minute after Brodziak's goal, the Blues took another "too many men" penalty, but killed it off and followed with the goal from Tarasenko.
Nashville was one for three on the power play Saturday, scoring a rare man-advantage goal against the Blues at home, but the club did manage to keep Predators forward James Neal off the board. His streak of scoring in six straight games ended Saturday.
The Blues and Predators traded goals in the second period and went into the final frame tied at 1-1.
The Blues jumped on the board first, a rare occurrence lately, on David Perron's sixth goal of the season, briefly tying him for the team lead with Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz.
Paul Stastny went 9-1 in the faceoff circle in the second period Saturday, winning the draw on the goal that gave the Blues their 1-0 advantage just 3:09 into the period. He dropped to back to Schwartz, who dropped it further back to Jay Bouwmeester. His point shot created a rebound, which Perron gathered, flipped forehand to backhand, and then lifted the puck past Rinne.
The goal extended Perron's point-streak to four games, in which he's had six points (two goals, four assists).
The Blues could not extend their lead, though, before Nashville knotted the game, 1-1.
The goal from Mike Ribeiro, his third of the season, came on the power play. It was the result of the Blues' inability to clear the puck a half-dozen times.
Nashville had a lengthy possession in the offensive zone, leading to some tired Blues. Schwartz missed three chances to exit the puck and allow the gassed unit to change, and eventually Stastny took a hooking penalty.
On the power play, Jori Lehtera had two chances to clear the puck but couldn't, and the Predators followed with a goal. Allen made the save on Craig Smith, but the puck lay loose, and Ribeiro poked it in.
But as the game wore on, the Blues got better.
"We have faith in our group that if we keep things close," Brodziak said. "By the end of the game, we're going to wear teams down, and I think you're seeing it the last couple of games, where I think the later portions of the game we've been able to take over a little bit."
