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   NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Brian Elliott made 15 saves and Alex Steen scored to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators last night.

   The Blues extended their winning streak to a season-long five games. The fading Predators have dropped four straight and seven of their last eight.

   After a scoreless first period, Steen got the game's first goal at 16:37 of the second. Carrying the puck along the boards on the left side, Steen pulled up at the top of the left circle and fired a slap shot that beat goaltender Pekka Rinne between the pads.

   Steen snapped a six-game goalless stretch.

   Elliott was relatively untested en route to his second consecutive shutout. He made four saves in the first, six in the second and five in the third.

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Antti Niemi made 25 saves and Tim Kennedy scored in the third period to help the San Jose Sharks end a seven-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues yesterday.

The Sharks' seven-game skid was their longest streak since a 10-game run Nov. 5-30, 2005.

Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose, which began the season with a franchise-record seven successive wins.

St. Louis has dropped five consecutive home games. The Blues also had a three-game winning streak halted. The Blues were coming off a 3-0 road trip with wins in Detroit, Calgary and Vancouver.

Kennedy scored the go-ahead goal at 13:02 on a shot from the left faceoff circle that eluded goalie Jake Allen, who had won the first three starts of his career.

Meanwhile, the Blues have traded defenseman Scott Ford to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Jani Lajunen.