Rinne, Predators hold off Blues to end losing streak

ST. LOUIS-- Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok scored for the Nashville Predators in a 2-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center on Wednesday.

Pekka Rinne made 29 saves for Nashville (22-9-5), which ended a three-game losing streak. The Predators moved into first place in the Central Division, one point ahead of the Blues (23-14-2) and Winnipeg Jets.
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Blues highlights]
"These are big division games and you really try to get ready for it, and I think for both teams, preparation-wise, it was different coming straight from the break, which was nice to have, but it's also tough to come back and have that mental preparation," Rinne said. "I thought we handled it pretty good. We didn't have the best start again, but after that, I thought that we got it going. Personally, I had a tougher last two games, so it's obviously nice to have a good game right after Christmas."

Rinne allowed nine goals losing his prior two games.
"Pekka stood on his head and gave us a chance to win the game," Smith said.
Vladimir Sobotka scored, and Jake Allen made 24 saves for St. Louis, which is 1-4-0 in its past five games and 2-6-0 its past eight. The Blues have scored two goals or fewer in seven of those games.
"There was a lot of good things in the game, but I think we've got to make it tougher on their goalie," Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson said. "I don't think we threw enough pucks at [Rinne] from bad angles and we didn't get bodies in front of the net. So, he saw most of the shots, but [Sobotka's] goal, he went right to the net, and good things happen when you go to the net. We just didn't make hard enough on Rinne."
Smith gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 10:37 of the first period on a deflection of Roman Josi's wrist shot.

"I think Roman got the puck, I think he was waiting for us and I stopped at the net," Smith said. "I didn't know if he was going to go back or shoot, so he shot and I got a stick on it."
Jarnkrok made it 2-0 at 16:49 of the second period, scoring his 10th goal of the season on a one-timer from the left circle after a pass from Filip Forsberg.
Sobotka scored at 13:37 of the third period to make it 2-1, deflecting Kyle Brodziak's shot.

Goal of the game

Jarnkrok's goal at 16:49 of the second period.

Save of the game

Rinne's save on Brayden Schenn at 2:09 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Allen's save on Ryan Johansen at 3:14 of the first period.

They said it

"I thought tonight we did some good things defensively in the second period. We did enough in the third period. We made one mistake in the third, and it ended up costing us. Pekka was really good tonight, sharp." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette
"It's a division team. There's a good chance we could face these guys in the playoffs. I think it's always exciting to play against St. Louis. I love to play against them and have a lot of respect toward them. They have a really good team." -- Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne
"I think we gave them everything they got. A lot of turnovers on our part. You can't call it rust, three days off, but every team has to go through it, so there's really no excuse there. It was right there for the taking." -- Blues goaltender Jake Allen
"I thought it was a fairly even game. We expected it to be an even game. That's just the way things go against this team. It seems like games are close. Again, we're having trouble scoring. We limit them, we give up two goals, pretty tight game. We've got to try and find a way to get more than one, and that was the difference." -- Blues center Kyle Brodziak

Need to know

Forsberg played his 300th NHL game. ... Nashville allowed 13 goals during the three-game losing streak after allowing 12 while going 6-0-1. ... Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko hasn't scored in five games and has three goals in the past 17 games.

What's next

Predators: At the Minnesota Wild on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV)
Blues: At the Dallas Stars on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW+, FS-MW, NHL.TV)