FanHouse LeeStempniak

Playing in his first game against his former team, St. Louis goalie Chris Mason was absolutely sensational on Tuesday, stopping 47 shots in regulation and overtime, not to mention two additional shots in a shootout, as a depleted Blues team walked out of Nashville with a 1-0 shootout win.

David Perron and Brad Boyes scored for St. Louis in the shootout, while Rich Peverley and Ville Koistinen came up short for the Predators.

The story of the night was Mason, who was traded by Nashville on June 20, in exchange for a fourth-round pick. The 32-year old goalie was a brick wall in net, as Nashville held a commanding 47-17 edge in the shots department. His best performance of the evening had to be the overtime period, as he turned aside nine shots as Nashville peppered him with shots on a 4-on-3 man advantage, following a questionable penalty call on Blues defenseman Barret Jackman.

The Blues have now picked up points in four consecutive games, after losing eight of their previous nine.

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave up on a pair of former first-round picks today, as they sent disappointing forward Alexander Steen and defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo to St. Louis, in exchange for forward Lee Stempniak, as reported by TSN.

It very well could be the final trade in the Cliff Fletcher era, as Brian Burke could be showing up in Toronto, riding in on his white horse, any day now. Frankly, it might be the best trade Fletcher made in his recent tenure with the Leafs. While Steen and Colaiacovo are former first-round picks, they've both been rather large disappointments for one reason or another.

In Colaiacovo's case, it's been injury after injury. The talent has always been there, but he's never been able to stay on the ice. He's played in only ten games this season, picking up one assist.

For Steen, it's simply been a matter of not playing very well. After scoring 18 goals as a rookie, he picked up 15 in each of the previous two seasons, and has taken quite a step back this year registering only two goals (four points) in Toronto's first 19 games.

To me, it's a win for the Leafs simply because they're receiving the best player in the deal. Stempniak has 13 points in 14 games for the Blues this year, and is two years removed from a 27-goal campaign.

Granted, he struggled last year, but just about everyone not named Brad Boyes struggled in St. Louis a year ago. Stempniak is expected to play on Toronto's second line.

After coming up short in his first two games as an NHL head coach, Rick Tocchet earned his first win on Friday night when his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Nashville, 4-1. The Lightning entered the game having lost five in a row, and seven of their past eight.

Vincent Lecavalier picked up a pair of goals in the first period, while Ryan Malone recorded three assists. Malone, who had missed the previous four games for Tampa Bay, entered play on Friday with just three goals (and no assists) on the season. He eventually left the game in the second period for what the Lightning called "precautionary reasons."

Mark Recchi and Vaclav Prospal also tallied goals in the win.

Nashville held a commanding 35-24 edge in the shots department, but could never solve Lightning goalie Mike Smith, who continued his rock-solid play in net turning aside 34 shots. Dan Ellis, suffering through a sophomore slump of sorts for Nashville, struggled once again, giving up four goals in the games first 26 minutes.

Facing 35 shots isn't anything new for Smith, seeing as how Tampa Bay is allowing a league-high 35 shots on goal per game. Thus far, the 26-year old Smith, acquired as part of the Brad Richards trade at last year's trade deadline, has been up to the challenge registering a .929 save percentage.