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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues,
the defending Norris Trophy winner and league MVP, was able to lead
his team even after he made a glaring error.
|  | | Lubos Bartecko (right) hasn't had a hot start, but it hasn't hurt the Blues. |
Pronger scored a power-play goal after his giveaway had set up a
tying goal for the Nashville Predators, and the St. Louis Blues
went on to win their sixth straight 4-2 Tuesday night.
"I went from being a bonehead to somewhat redeeming myself,"
Pronger said. "It was very up-and-down."
Al MacInnis had a pair of assists for the Blues. Nashville is
winless in its last five (0-2-2-1).
Leading Blues scorer Pierre Turgeon left the ice after a
second-period collision with Predators defenseman Cale Hulse and
did not return. He suffered a charley horse and a hyperextended
right knee and is day to day.
Nashville's Vitali Yachmenev tied it 1-1 seven seconds into the
second period. After the opening faceoff went to Pronger, Yachmenev
intercepted Pronger's attempted pass to defense partner Alexander
Khavanov.
"I got the puck and went to saucer it over to my partner, and
got absolutely none of my stick under the puck," Pronger said. "I
just hit (Yachmenev) right in the stick and wasn't able to
recover."
Yachmenev skated in on Blues goalie Roman Turek and beat him
with a backhand. It was Yachmenev's team-leading fifth goal.
Later in the second period, Pronger rifled a slap shot over
Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun's glove during a power play to put
the Blues up 2-1. Scott Young, whose five-game goal scoring streak
was snapped, got an assist.
"Pronger doesn't get rattled too easily," Nashville coach
Barry Trotz said. "He bombed (the shot). I wrote down on my sheet:
`Power play, Pronger, bomb.' "
Michal Handzus scored a short-handed goal for the Blues to make
it 3-1. He worked behind the Nashville defense after a perfect pass
from MacInnis, and put the puck between Vokoun's pads.
"That was a mistake that cost," Trotz said.
Nashville's Drake Berehowsky cut the lead to 3-2 with 5:01 left
on a power-play goal from between the circles. MacInnis was serving
a double minor at the time. Mike Eastwood scored the final goal
into an empty net.
Craig Conroy scored for St. Louis in the first period. His pass
from behind the goal hit Predators defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick in
front and bounced past Vokoun.
The Predators ended up 1-for-10 on the power play, and 1-for-6
in the third period.
"It was a good win," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "I
thought we did a lot of good things. We got in a little penalty
trouble late in the game but for the most part I really liked the
way we played tonight."
Game notes
Entering the game, the Predators were the least penalized
team in the NHL. No Nashville player had more than 14 minutes in
penalties. The Predators were averaging just 11.5 minutes per game
in penalties as a team. The Blues were averaging 22.6 penalty
minutes per game, the highest in the league. The Predators had 11
penalty minutes in the second period alone against the Blues, and
MacInnis racked up eight by himself in the third period plus a
10-minute misconduct. ... Scott Young's career high in goals is 30,
set in 1992-93 with the Quebec Nordiques. The only players with
more than Young's 12 goals in the first 11 games of a season since
1990-91 were Mario Lemieux (16 in 1992-93), Brett Hull (14 in
1990-91), and Owen Nolan (13 in 1991-92). ... Many fans wore
Halloween costumes to the game. So did Nashville broadcasters Pete
Weber and Terry Crisp, who dressed as the Hanson Brothers.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Nashville Clubhouse
RECAPS
Carolina 6
Tampa Bay 5
Columbus 4
Los Angeles 1
Ottawa 4
Toronto 3
NY Islanders 4
Boston 2
St. Louis 4
Nashville 2
Washington 6
Detroit 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Al MacInnis assists Michal Handzus, who puts it in for the Blues' goal.
avi: 450 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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