ST. LOUIS -- Right winger Vladimir Tarasenko gave Ken Hitchcock exactly what the St. Louis Blues' coach wanted for his birthday on Thursday -- a victory.

Tarasenko snapped a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal with 5:20 to play in the third period to lift St. Louis to the 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators, giving the Blues back-to-back wins for the first time since they won three in a row from Nov. 4-10.

The goal was Tarasenko's 20th of the season, tying him with left winger Jamie Been of the Dallas Stars for the league lead. It also was his fourth consecutive game with a goal, equaling the longest streak of his career.

"Any win," said Hitchcock, who turned 64 on Thursday. "You look up at the scoreboard and all of the wrong teams are winning and you go 'man it's going to be a big loss for somebody to not win this game' because everybody in this division is winning hockey games."

It was the second consecutive win for the Blues after trailing at the end of the second period. Center David Backes tied the game with his 10th goal of the year 2:38 into the period, off a deflection of a shot from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

"It's a hard way to make a living like that," said Hitchcock, whose team had come back from a 3-2 deficit in the final period to win Tuesday night in Winnipeg.

Backes also was in front of the net when Tarasenko lined up his shot, just 26 seconds after Nashville left winger Viktor Arvidsson was called for tripping.

"The man can shoot the puck," Backes said of Tarasenko. "It's impressive. I was praying in front that he misses me and if I can get the goalie's eyes it's got a great chance. Even if he saved it there would be a rebound out there somewhere."

Added Hitchcock, "He's got 20 goals but I'll bet 16 or 17 of them are really important goals. I think that's been the small difference for us why we've been able to have the record we've got. He's been outstanding when the game's on the line."

Tarasenko said the Blues are confident they can win games coming from behind, but that it's something he hopes they can avoid in the future.

"I think everybody would agree with me that it's not the style we want to play," he said. "We want to dominate all three periods, especially at home. You can chase every game and it's really hard."

The Blues have outscored their opponents by 17 goals in the third period.

They fell behind 7:14 into the game on a power-play goal by defenseman Roman Josi, his eighth of the year. The goal came when right winger Troy Brouwer was off the ice for interference.

It ended a streak of 23 consecutive penalty kills for the Blues and was the first power-play goal they had allowed in 10 games. The Blues lead the league in percentage of penalties killed.

"It's just not good enough," said Predators defenseman Shea Weber. "It doesn't matter if you're out chancing teams. ... What matters is the score and we've just got to be better."

The Predators have won only two of their last eight games and are now 8-6-2 against Western Conference opponents.

"I don't know that there's a set answer," said Nashville coach Peter Laviolette. "We've got to figure it out pretty quick and start putting some wins on the board."

NOTES: After playing 803 games for the Blues, including 395 at Scottrade Center over 13 seasons, Nashville D Barret Jackman played his first career game against the Blues in St. Louis on Thursday night. Jackman, second all-time in games played for the Blues, signed as a free agent with the Predators last summer. ... RW Colin Wilson (lower body) returned to the Predators lineup after missing the last four games. ... C Patrik Berglund, who has not played for the Blues after shoulder surgery in August, resumed skating with the team and is projected to be ready for game action sometime after Jan. 1. ... The Blues will host Calgary on Saturday while the Predators return home to play Minnesota.