Crombeen's hat trick leads Blues to 6-3 win

ST. LOUIS -- B.J. Crombeen doubled his career goal total in one game and accomplished a feat his father never did.

Crombeen's first NHL hat trick, which included the game-winning goal with 3:43 to play, helped the St. Louis Blues to a 6-3 win Monday over the Nashville Predators.

Mike Crombeen played in the NHL for seven seasons, including five with the Blues, but never scored three times in a game.

"I'll have to call him up and see what he has to say about it," Crombeen joked.

Crombeen had three career goals coming into Monday's game, including two this season, and now has four in the last two games as the Blues took five of six points in a three-game homestand.

"I can't say I was expecting that going into the game," Crombeen said. "Right spot at the right time on the first one. [Alex Steen] made a beautiful play on the second one and obviously, an empty net on the third one. It was a good night. The best part of it was we got the win."

Steen, Patrik Berglund and Brad Boyes also scored for the Blues, who are 3-0 against the Predators this season. Steen, who assisted on Crombeen's game-winner, tallied his first points with the Blues in seven games since coming over in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boyes and Berglund each added an assist for the Blues.

Steen raced down the left side and pulled the puck past Nashville defenseman Dan Hamhuis and whipped a pass into the slot, where Crombeen snapped a shot over the glove of goalie Pekka Rinne, who was 6-0 this season.

"I had a lot of speed, so I figured I'd try [to beat the defender] and it's successful," Steen said. "B.J. had a good finish. It's fun when those plays work."

Nashville, which had won six of its previous seven road games, got goals from Antti Pihlstrom, Kevin Klein and J.P. Dumont. The goal was Pihlstrom's first NHL goal.

The Blues snapped a 3-3 tie late in the game to get a victory over a Nashville team that posted shutouts in two of its previous three games.

"I'm not sure what happened [late in the game]," Predators defenseman Shea Weber said. "A little mental lapse, a little miscommunication. That's something we can't do, especially late in the game. We have to salvage at least one point."

The Blues put the game away when Boyes, who scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season, deflected a point shot from Barret Jackman 45 seconds after Crombeen's second of the game.

Crombeen added an empty-netter with 30 seconds to play for his first career hat trick as the Blues held the Predators to one shot on goal in the third period.

The Predators held the early advantage and led 2-1 in the game when penalties turned the tide in the Blues' favor.

After Klein gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 6:32 of the second period with a breakaway goal, the teams combined for three goals in a span of 2:01 late in the period.

With Nashville's Jordin Tootoo in the penalty box for interference and Vernon Fiddler in the box for holding, Steen tied the game at 14:56, scoring on a two-man advantage.

Berglund scored another power-play goal for the Blues to give them a 3-2 lead at 16:22, before Dumont tied the game 35 seconds later.

"The second period, we had it all along," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "Everything was going our way, then we took one penalty, then we took another, which was absolutely ridiculous. ... Two 5-on-3s change the game."

The Blues had a chance to grab a lead at the start of the third period when Nashville's David Legwand was whistled for a four-minute high-sticking penalty. However, the Blues failed to get a shot on goal.