NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Andy McDonald scored nine seconds into the game and in the fifth round of the shootout to send the St. Louis Blues to a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators Wednesday night.
After losing five straight, the Blues have won three in a row, while the Predators have dropped their past two.
In the tiebreaker, none of the shooters scored in the first four rounds.
In the fifth round, McDonald slipped a backhand through the pads of Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. Sergei Kostitsyn was Nashville's fifth shooter, but his wrist shot hit the post next to Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak giving the Blues the win.
McDonald scored nine seconds after the opening faceoff with a wrist shot from the left circle that beat Rinne high to the glove side. The team record for the fastest goal to open a game is 8 seconds set by Greg Paslawski on Oct. 29, 1985 at Washington and matched by Alex Steen against Colorado on March 16, 2010.
St. Louis finished with just 15 shots for the game.
Nashville also found some first-minute fortune when Jerred Smithson drew the Predators even at the 22-second mark of the second period.
Joel Ward carried the puck into the St. Louis zone along the right boards. His shot from the right circle was stopped by Halak, but the rebound landed in the slot, where an unchecked Smithson fired it into the open net for his second goal of the season.
Halak made 29 saves for St. Louis.
The Predators were 0 for 3 on the power play. It was the fifth consecutive game they failed to score with the man advantage.
Notes: Wednesday night was Nashville's eighth home game of the season, but three of those eight were against St. Louis, meaning the Blues will not return to Nashville for the remainder of this season. ... Nashville D Ryan Suter returned after missing two games with a lower-body injury. ... With an assist Wednesday, Blues C Brad Boyes extended his points-scoring streak to six games. ... St. Louis D Barret Jackman played Wednesday night after missing nine games with a sprained knee.