Blues down Predators to pick up 1st win since coaching change
ST. LOUIS (AP) Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Alex Pietrangelo finished with a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night.
Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford and Robby Fabbri also scored for the Blues, who posted their highest goal total in 11 games. Robert Thomas had a pair of assists, and Jake Allen made 26 saves as interim head coach Craig Berube earned his first win since taking over after Mike Yeo was fired on Monday night.
Nick Bonino and Ryan Hartman scored for the Predators, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Juuse Saros was pulled in favor of Pekka Rinne after giving up five goals on 15 shots.
The Blues scored the first two goals of the game and never trailed, splitting a home-and-home with the Predators after losing at Nashville on Wednesday. It was the most goals the Predators have allowed this season.
Barbashev finished on a give-and-go with Jordan Schmaltz that resulted from a Miikka Salomaki turnover, giving the Blues a 1-0 lead midway through the first period. It was the first time in six games that St. Louis got the opening goal, a streak that dated to Nov. 10.
O'Reilly made it 2-0 Blues with 6:51 left in the first, marking St. Louis' first multi-goal game in their last five contests.
Bonino's power-play goal for the Predators cut the deficit to 2-1 with 5:48 left in the first. It was Nashville's first shot on goal.
Schenn answered 67 seconds later on a breakaway to make it 3-1 Blues.
Sanford gave the Blues a 4-1 lead 46 seconds into the second off a feed from O'Reilly. It was Sanford's first goal in 11 games, dating to Oct. 27.
Fabbri made it 5-1 Blues with 8:07 left in the second. Fabbri's first goal in eight games chased Saros.
NOTES: Predators G Pekka Rinne won his 320th career game on Wednesday, passing Miikka Kiprusoff for most wins by a Finnish-born goalie in NHL history. . Blues F Robert Thomas scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday, becoming the fourth-youngest player in franchise history to score a goal at 19 years, 142 days. . The Predators scratched C Zac Rinaldo and D Matt Irwin. . The Blues scratched D Carl Gunnarsson, LW Alexander Steen and RW Nikita Soshkinov.
UP NEXT
Nashville: Hosts Anaheim on Sunday.
St. Louis: Hosts Winnipeg on Saturday.
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