St. Louis goalie Toivonen thwarts Columbus in shootout

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators felt they let a victory slip away.

St. Louis gave backup goalie Hannu Toivonen some goals to work with, and he came through for the Blues.

Brad Boyes scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Blues won their third straight by beating the Predators 3-2 Saturday night. St. Louis, which defeated Columbus 3-2 on Friday night, had been the only NHL team not to reach overtime this season.

Toivonen stopped 35 shots as Nashville outshot the Blues 37-20, then he smothered attempts by J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat and Alexander Radulov in the shootout to win it.

"He really stood on his head, especially in the shootout," Blues forward Paul Kariya said. "Obviously, he made some huge saves. He was solid for us. And he's such a great guy and such a hardworking guy, it's nice to get a win for him."

The Blues hadn't given Toivonen much to protect in his previous two games.

"I was really pleased to see Toivonen end it," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said.

Toivonen picked up his second win in four games. He said he worked at taking as much of the net away in the shootout as possible to make the Predators make the first move.

"It worked out," he said.

Radulov and Jordin Tootoo each scored for Nashville, 6-0-1 in its previous seven games and 8-1-1 over the past 10.

Chris Mason stopped Blues rookie David Perron and ex-teammate Kariya, playing in his first game back in Nashville since leaving as a free agent. But Boyes, who also had a goal in regulation, clinched the win by faking Mason to the goalie's right, then flipping the puck behind Mason's right skate.

Perron also had a goal for the Blues, who have won their first two against Nashville this season.

-- AP