Blues 1, Predators 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Right winger Troy Brouwer's deflection gave the St. Louis Blues their first 1-0 win of the season Tuesday night.
Scoring his 10th goal, Brouwer got his stick on a one-timer from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, beating Predators goalie Pekka Rinne at 18:55 of the third period and giving St. Louis its fourth win of the season over Nashville.
The Blues (29-16-8) outshot the Predators 12-5 in the final period.
St. Louis goalie Brian Elliott (11-6-5) stopped 16 shots in his ninth consecutive start in place of the injured Jake Allen, notching his first shutout of the season and the 31st of his career.
Rinne (19-16-7) made 22 saves for Nashville, which saw a season-long four-game winning streak end. The Predators managed only eight shots on net in the final two periods.
Nashville (24-19-8) played the last minute with a sixth attacker after pulling Rinne. The Predators managed one quality chance, but left winger Filip Forsberg's point-blank backhander was denied by Elliott.
St. Louis crawled within a point of the Dallas Stars for second place in the Central Division, while the Predators hung onto the Western Conference's second wild-card spot as the Minnesota Wild lost to the New York Islanders.
Both teams spent the first period chipping off rust from extended All-Star breaks. The only quality chance either way came when Nashville center Ryan Johansen got open in the slot, but he was denied on a wrister by Elliott.
St. Louis center Patrik Berglund nearly scored a short-handed goal in the second period's first minute, but Rinne turned him away. Berglund created a nice chance a few minutes later but couldn't crack the code that time, either.
Each team managed only 11 shots on net through two periods, but the Blues stormed the Predators' zone for most of the third period's first 10 minutes. Left winger Magnus Paajarvi had the best chance early in the third, but Rinne slid across the crease from right to left to stone him with a pad save.
NOTES: St. Louis LW Magnus Paajarvi (upper-body injury) returned to the lineup for the first time since leaving a Jan. 9 game in Los Angeles after taking a hard check into the boards. ... Nashville LW Eric Nystrom (broken foot) landed on injured reserve Tuesday. Nystrom was struck by a slapper from D Shea Weber on Jan. 26 in Vancouver. ... The Blues scratched D Robert Bortuzzo, along with RW Ty Rattie and RW Ryan Reaves. ... D Anthony Bitetto was the Predators' only scratch.