New-look Blues look to persevere without McDonald

St. Louis (8-8-2) at Nashville (10-9-1), 7:00 pm EST

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The St. Louis Blues used a
trade to boost their offense, which is without injured center
Andy McDonald for a significant period of time. As it turns
out, they have been just fine without him.

One day after trading right wing Lee Stempniak, the new-look
Blues hope to win their third straight game when they take on
the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

McDonald, who has six goals and 12 assists this season, broke
his leg in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on
November 16 and is expected to be sidelined eight weeks. The
Blues decided to add depth to their club by trading Stempniak
for defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo and center Alex Steen on Monday.

"We feel we have improved our club today for both the short and
long term by adding Carlo and Alex," Blues general manager John
Davidson said. "Carlo is a solid two-way defenseman and will
provide depth to our blueline and Alex can play center or wing
and can score at the NHL level."

St. Louis has won both games it has been without McDonald,
though each contest has been close. The Blues edged the Anaheim
Ducks, 3-2, in overtime on Friday and defeated the Minnesota
Wild, 2-1, the next night.

Nashville, which will play at home for the first time since
November 1, snapped a two-game losing streak with a convincing
5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

Captain Jason Arnott and defenseman Shea Weber scored two goals
apiece. Scott Nichol had the other goal for Nashville and Dan
Ellis finished with 24 saves.