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Hitchcock becomes fourth coach to win 700 games as Elliott ties Blues shutout record

St Louis Blues v Nashville Predators

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 15: Head coach Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues watches his team play against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on March 15, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)

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After allowing four goals on 16 shots on Tuesday, Blues goaltender Brian Elliott bounced back in a big way by posting a 28-save shutout in St. Louis 1-0 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

It was Elliott’s fourth shutout of the season and his 20th since joining the Blues in 2011-12. That puts him in a tie with his former goaltending partner Jaroslav Halak for the franchise record.

T.J. Oshie and Vladimir Tarasenko each scored for St. Louis in the skills competition while Elliott beat Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds.

Elliott’s efforts made head coach Ken Hitchcock the fourth bench boss in NHL history to reach the 700-win mark. It was a particularly appropriate game for him to accomplish that feat as the 63-year-old bench boss coached the Philadelphia Flyers for parts of four seasons. He also was in charge of the Dallas Stars and Columbus Blue Jackets at various points in his career.

As it happens, all three of the coaches ahead of Hitchcock on the wins list are also former Blues bench bosses. Joel Quenneville (745 wins) leads the Chicago Blackhawks now, but he spent parts of his first eight seasons in charge of the Blues. Scotty Bowman (1,244) got his start with St. Louis too, running the team from the 1967-68 campaign until he was replaced by Al Arbour (782 wins) during the 1970-71 campaign. The four legends have won the Stanley Cup as a head coach a combined 16 times, but never with St. Louis.

Hitchcock hopes to become the first this year.

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