goal and added a primary assist against the Detroit Red Wings

ST. LOUIS -- David Backes and his St. Louis Blues teammates were just trying to keep pace with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night. Backes had a goal and assist in the first period to lead the Blues to a 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in the season opener for both teams. St. Louis scored three times in the first 9:45 to jump in front 3-0 and chase Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne. The early scoring came on the heels of the Cardinals 9-1 win over Pittsburgh in the opening game of the NL Division Series. The start of the hockey game was moved back 30 minutes to allow the fans time to make the five-block trek from Busch Stadium, "The Cards scored nine today, we were trying to keep up," Backes said. The baseball game was shown on the scoreboard before the Blues game, charging up the already crazed crowd. Watching the Cardinals roll to an easy win set the tone for hockey team, which came out on a roll. "Its exciting, everything thats going on in this city," defenceman Alex Pietrangelo said. "It was a great day for St. Louis sports. The fans were really into it. "Im just glad we were able to put on a good show." Pietrangelo had two first-period assists to pace the early scoring. Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves for the Blues and improved to 9-3-3 against the Predators. Backes, Vladimir Sobotka, T.J. Oshie and Alex Steen scored for St. Louis, which was 2 of 4 on the power play. St. Louis has won four of its past five home openers. Nashville, which missed the playoffs last season, is 7-7-1 in season openers. The Blues came out aggressively, scoring three times on their first six shots. "The first 10 minutes were ideal," Backes said. "This was a result we can love. Its just a first step, but we had a lot of guys contribute on the score sheet and off the score sheet. "It all adds up to a pretty good team victory." St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock was also pleased. "I thought that the players that have been here a while really put their best foot forward," he said. "This gives us a chance to build on some things." Backes scored from close range at 2:05, just three seconds after Matt Cullen was sent off for tripping. Backes pounced on a shot from the blue line by Pietrangelo. The goal came 51 minutes after the final out of the baseball game. Sobotka tallied on a break along the left wing to make it 2-0. He went by Kevin Klein and sent a backhand behind Rinne. Oshie converted on a pass from Steen to push the lead to 3-0. Rinne was pulled after that tally. "Obviously, Im not happy with the result, not happy with the effort," Rinne said. Nashville climbed within 3-2 on goals by Mike Fisher and David Legwand, who scored off a pass from Patric Hornqvist. Steen scored a power-play goal at 11:16 of the second period to stretch the lead to 4-2. Halak then made nine third-period saves to preserve the lead. Nashville defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, played 18:35 and had three shots on goal in his debut. "I had a couple good shifts to start the game and that carried me throughout out the game," Jones said. Jones, who was celebrating his 19th birthday, is the son of former NBA journeyman Popeye Jones. Popeye Jones, an assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers, was in attendance. "It was a thrill, Im just excited to be here for this," Popeye Jones said. NOTES: St. Louis has made the playoffs in 37 of its 46 seasons. ... Nashville coach Barry Trotz is the longest-tenured head coach with the same team with 1,115 games. ... St. Louis LW Brenden Morrow fixed his work-visa problems earlier in the day and was able to play. ... Hitchcock improved to 10-3-4 in season openers.... Halak, who played in just 16 games last season due to groin injuries, last won on March 23, 2012, a 3-0 win over Edmonton. 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Signed until the end of the season as injury cover, Kallstrom might not be fit until mid-March after arriving Friday at Arsenal having injured his back earlier in the week while training with Spartak Moscow. Cheap Jerseys From China . Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. Inter was beaten 2-1 by Atalanta at home on Sunday and has won only seven of 16 matches at the San Siro this season, as the squad seems to still be searching for its identity under new owner Erick Thohir and first-year manager Walter Mazzarri.Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman John-Michael Liles has cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. The 32-year-old was placed on waivers by the Leafs on Sunday and cleared Monday. He has three years remaining on a four-year deal worth a $3.875-million average annual value. Liles demotion clears $925,000 off the Leafs salary cap obligations. An Indianapolis native, Liles scored two goals and nine assists in 32 games with the Leafs in 2012-13. In 621 career NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche, Liles has 77 goals and 236 assists. Liles scored a goal and added a primary assist against the Detroit Red Wings in the Leafs final exhibition game on Saturday night. In addition to Liles, the Leafs have also assigned forwards Trevor Smith and Troy Bodie, defenceman T.J. Brennan and Korbinian Holzer and goaltender Drew MacIntyre to the Marlies afteer they cleared waivers on Monday.dddddddddddd They also sent Jamie Devane, Jerry DAmigo, Andrew MacWilliam, Josh Leivo, Spencer Abbott, David Broll, Stuart Percy and Greg McKegg to the Marlies, leaving 22 players on the roster. The deadline to set NHL rosters is 5 pm et Monday with all teams needing to get their payrolls under the $64.3-million salary cap. For the Leafs, their total cap obligations must be below that number including the currently-suspended David Clarkson and Frazer McLaren – who is currently nursing a broken finger. A corresponding move is expected once rosters are finalized with McLaren expected to be placed on the long-term injured reserve. Once that move is made the Leafs will be left with only 11 active forwards on their roster and will need to recall a player from the Marlie prior to the Leafs season opener in Montreal on Tuesday night. ' ' '