Stars Lose In Nashville
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Peter Laviolette era couldn’t be off to a better start for the Nashville Predators.
For the second game in a row the Predators fell behind early, and failed to score in the first period. But Nashville’s offense came alive in the third period and the Predators cruised to a 4-1 win over the visiting Dallas Stars on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.
Laviolette, the Predators first-year head coach was pleased with his team’s effort as they improved to 2-0-0 on the season. He lauded the Predators’ defensive effort and intensity despite the Stars being able to grab an early lead.
“The competitiveness of the first period was crazy,” Laviolette said. “It was fast … a lot of puck battles.”
Dallas struck first as left winger Antoine Roussel ripped a shot past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne just 7:14 into the first period to give the Stars an early lead. For Roussel, it was his first goal of the season.
Nashville’s offense seemed out of synch despite outshooting Dallas in the first period. Predators center Paul Gaustad provided a lift when he and Dallas’ left wing Vernon Fiddler went toe-to-toe at
center ice. The slugfest seemed to ignite the Predators.
“I respect the way he (Fiddler) plays,” said Gaustad following the game. “But sometimes you get into things in a game. I just decided that was a time for that to happen.”
Predators captain Shea Webber acknowledged that the fight sparked his team and they played better in the second period.
“The fight obviously helped [give us] momentum,” he said.
The Predators evened the game in the second period when Webber found the net for his first goal of the season on assists from centers Fillip Forsberg and Derek Roy.
Dallas goalie Anders Lindback, who had been strong through the first period, had clear vision of Webber’s game-tying shot, but was unable to make the save.
“No, I saw the shot coming high,” he said. “I was trying to stay patient and then it’s a second too late. It sank in.”
Lindback admitted he has to play better to give the Stars a chance in tight tame.
“Every point matters,” he said. “Unfortunately, today, I didn’t capitalize and we as a team didn’t push back. So we look forward and keep on going.”
The third period belonged to the Predators as they scored three times in a physical period.
Gaustad gave Nashville a lead when he beat Lindback for his first goal of the season with 8:33 remaining. Left wing Eric Nystrom knocked home his second goal of the season just 1:21 seconds later to push the Predators lead to 3-1.
“[Taylor] Beck did a great job of getting the puck to me and for me I just tried to wait it out as long as possible and just jam it in,” Gaustad said.
Nystrom finished the night with three points against his former team.
“It felt great, you know, it’s my old team,” Nystrom said. “I got a lot of friends over there. It’s a huge win for us, they’re a really strong team. It was a fun game. The tempo was really high. For the second game of the season, that was a great game.”
Dallas Head Coach Lindy Ruff summed his team’s loss.
“At the end it came down to puck battles; we lost puck battles,” Ruff said. “I thought their backchecking and the type of pressure in the game was really good. It was a tight game where I thought we fouled it and they kept coming.”
Laviolette won for the 391st time as a head coach.
