Blues keep low profile on trade day

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues, in danger of not making the playoffs, were spectators at the NHL trade deadline.

The Blues were in seventh place in the Western Conference entering Tuesday night's game against the Predators, and they've been without injured center Doug Weight since Feb. 26 with no return imminent. So aside from picking up 37-year-old center Ray Ferraro in hopes of revving up a lackluster offense and power play on Monday, the Blues stood pat.

General manager Larry Pleau said the last hour before the 2 p.m. deadline wasn't frantic for him.

"It cooled down quite a bit," he said. "All you have to do is look at some of the pieces that were going back and forth and our organization wasn't interested in moving pieces like that. Today was kind of a quiet day for me."

Blues topple Predators

ST. LOUIS -- Scott Mellanby and Pavol Demitra scored in a 2:16 span of the second-period as the St. Louis Blues recovered from a sluggish start to beat the Nashville Predators 5-1 Tuesday night.

Keith Tkachuk had two assists for the Blues, who have won three of four after a seven-game winless slump endangered their playoff hopes. They have 79 points, sixth in the Western Conference, but three teams are within three points.

Brent Johnson made his eighth straight start for St. Louis and made 25 saves. The Blues gave Johnson a vote of confidence, electing not to shop for a veteran goalie before Tuesday's trade deadline.

Johnson also assisted on the clincher, a short-handed goal by Chris Pronger with 3:32 to go that made it 3-1. Pronger scored his first goal since Jan. 15, a 22-game drought.

-- From wire reports