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Tkachuk leads Blues to season-opening win over Preds

Fri 10th, October 2008

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Keith Tkachuk recorded a pair of goals, and St. Louis had four power-play tallies en route to a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the season opener for both Central Division clubs.

Barret Jackman, Brad Boyes and David Backes had a goal apiece for the Blues, who last season went 33-36-13 and missed the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Manny Legace stopped 20-of-22 shots for St. Louis, which hadn't opened the season at home since 2002 and was winless in its previous 10 season openers. The Blues last won their first game of the season in 1996, a 4-2 triumph over Colorado.

"The boys bailed me out and just played phenomenal with high energy, and that's due to the fans in the first two periods," Legace said. "The guys were just all fired up. If we can play with that intensity every single night I like our chances."

Joel Ward and Ryan Suter each scored for Nashville, which made the playoffs last season for the fourth straight year with a 41-32-9 record before being ousted in the first round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Red Wings.

Dan Ellis gave up all five goals in net for Nashville, seeing just 22 shots.

"They move the puck around really well," Ellis said of the Blues. "They've got a lot of different looks out there (on the power play). They shift into umbrellas, they shift into overloads, they do backdoors, deflections. They really change it up and keep you guessing. I think they kept us guessing a little too much and we couldn't keep up."

The Predators had the initial lead after Suter blasted the puck past Legace from the high slot just 2:03 into the game.

But Tkachuk and Jackman scored just 33 seconds apart later in the frame to give St. Louis the lead.

With St. Louis on the power play and on a rush, Paul Kariya fed the puck to Tkachuk in the right circle, and the one-timer from there beat Ellis to tie the game with 7:15 left in the first.

Then, with 6:42 remaining, the Blues' David Perron fed the puck out front for Jackman, who quickly put the puck in the back of the net for a 2-1 lead. It was St. Louis' only even-strength goal.

Boyes added a power-play tally just 3:28 into the middle period, though Ward got the goal back by scoring about four minutes later.

But Tkachuk's second goal, at 12:51, and Backes' score 3 1/2 minutes later gave the Blues an insurmountable three-goal advantage. Legace stopped all five shots he saw in the final frame.

Game Notes

The Blues were 3-3-2 against the Predators last season...St. Louis was 4-for-6 on power play opportunities, while Nashville didn't convert any of the four man-advantages it had.