Vladimir Tarasenko's two goals help Blues even series vs. Predators

The St. Louis Blues handed the Nashville Predators their first loss of the postseason with a 3-2 win in Game 2 to even their second round series.

James Neal opened the scoring for Nashville 7:49 into the game, but Vladimir Tarasenko answered late in the first period to tie things. St. Louis was handed a five-minute power play after Predators forward Vernon Fiddler was ejected for kneeing Blues defenseman Colton Parayko. Tarasenko would score his first of the night 72 seconds later.

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A goalless middle frame set up an exciting third period.

An errant pass by Vladimir Sobotka landed on Ryan Ellis’ stick and he blasted home his second of the playoffs to give Nashville the lead once again. The Blues didn’t fade, however, and they quickly answered.

Four minutes later, Parayko, who returned to the game for the start of the second period, saw his shot bounce over Pekka Rinne and land in the crease before Jori Lehtera poked it home to even the score at two.

It was then Tarasenko time. As the clock dwindled down and it looked like we would be heading to overtime, the Russian superstar struck again with 3:51 left in the game to give the Blues the lead for good.

The goal was Tarasenko’s 22nd in 40 career playoff games with St. Louis. Meanwhile, Jake Allen stopped 22 of 24 shots faced and made 14 saves in the final period as Nashville outshot the Blues 15-6.

We’re now even at one with the series shifting to Nashville for Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy

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