St. Louis Blues' Brian Elliott gets third straight shutout against Nashville Predators 3-0 -NHL Update
Brian Elliott is just getting better and better as the season nears its end. The veteran goalie earned a third straight shutout for St. Louis Blues, this time against Nashville Predators, 3-0, on Tuesday night, March 27, 2012, at the sold-out Scottrade Center
in Saint Louis, Missouri.
St. Louis widened their lead over the Western Conference teams with 105 points now, four above second place Vancouver Canucks.
Elliott is now known as one of the best goaltenders in the league during his breakthrough 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season as he shattered a franchise record held by Glen Hall with his ninth shutout, two nights after tying it against
Phoenix Coyotes, 4-0.
"You get out there and you work hard to get that winning feeling," Elliott said.
Jamie Langenbrunner got his sixth of the year at 6:35 into round-two for the first of the night while David Perron and T.J. Oshie added two straight for St. Louis in the third 20-minute period.
"We just want to keep playing good hockey and keep getting better," Langenbrunner said. "Hopefully we'll continue to get healthy and the lineup will get better and better and we'll keep moving forward."
"For me, the game was well-played," said Blues’ coach, Ken Hitchcock. "From a precision standpoint, an execution standpoint, we came out with a lot of focus and hats off to (Nashville), they grabbed a little bit in the second. And then we took it back in
the third.”
Realising the fact that needing a top-notch goaltender in any postseason series is crucial to win, St. Louis is on the way to the Stanley Cup now as they certainly have met the criteria for the goalie requirement.
There is no telling what a team like St. Louis will be able to do in the playoffs as they enter for the first time in many seasons as the leading team. Blues will now be playing the next against Chicago Blackhawks on the road on Thursday.
Nashville had their two-game winning streak snapped but will most likely rebound against Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
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