Stars Lose To Predators
By Bucky Dent, The Sports Xchange
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For most of two periods Sunday at Bridgestone Arena, emotion prevailed over execution for the Nashville Predators.
Criticized by coach Peter Laviolette for lacking passion in a 7-4 loss Saturday against Florida, Nashville came out amped up against the Dallas Stars, engaging in three fights in the first 10:03 but also taking a spate of minor penalties and falling behind 3-0 when Dallas capitalized on the power play.
But the Predators channeled their emotion into better hockey just in time, staging a huge rally to earn a 5-3 win and go into their mandatory five-day bye on the highest of high notes.
“We battled hard,” said defenseman Roman Josi, who fueled the comeback with two goals. “Maybe we could have been smarter in the first period — you want to be aggressive but you also want to be smart — but I thought we were good 5-on-5.”
Rarely was Nashville 5-on-5 in the first 30-something minutes. It handed Dallas seven man-advantage chances with a barrage of penalties ranging from slashing to holding and interference, and the Stars cashed in thrice.
Jamie Benn bagged his 18th goal at 12:24 of the first period with James Neal in the box. Patrick Sharp made it 2-0 at 15:46 by potting a rebound during a 5-on-3 power play after minors 16 seconds apart to Mattias Ekholm and Matt Irwin.
When Devin Shore tallied 12 seconds into a second period man-advantage, Dallas (22-25-10) looked safe and secure with a three-goal lead against an opponent about to eat a third straight defeat and eyeballing a daunting stretch of six games in nine days after their break.
From out of nowhere, the Predators (27-21-8) launched their comeback. Josi started it with an innocent-looking wrister near the left boards that somehow made it through net-front traffic and beat Kari Lehtonen at 15:25.
While Craig Smith missed a chance to make it 3-2 when his penalty shot eight seconds later thumped into Lehtonen’s pad, Josi’s first goal flipped the switch.
“Penalty shot, power play chances, good looks were coming at the end of the period,” Laviolette said. “I felt our guys had the right intentions.”
And that was bad news for the Stars, who quickly melted down under a relentless attack in the first 6:02 of the third period. Josi made it 3-2 at :45 during a 5-on-3 power play, ripping a one-timer into the net for his ninth goal of the season and his fourth in three games.
Calle Jarnkrok equalized at 4:40 when he took a Neal pass and beat Lehtonen with a wrister from the right faceoff circle, his 11th. The tie-breaker happened just 82 seconds left with Viktor Arvidsson in the box for high-sticking Dallas’ Jamie Oleksiak.
Filip Forsberg stole the puck from Tyler Seguin at center ice with no Stars in front of him. Forsberg tried to put a wrister to Lehtonen’s glove side and fanned it, but beat him between the pads for his 16th goal and a stunning 4-3 lead.
“Best shot in hockey — the one that misses,” said a chuckling Forsberg.
Even after earning a ninth power play and pulling the goalie for the last 2:09, the Stars never really came up with a Grade A chance. Mike Fisher capped the comeback with an empty-netter at 18:22, his 14th goal of the season.
Dallas coach Lindy Ruff, whose team lost for the fifth time in six games, admitted he was at a loss for words to explain a result that kept it six games out of the Western Conference’s last wild-card spot.
“Tough one,” he said. “Our power play was going well, but the shorthanded goal ruined it for them. That hurts.”
Pekka Rinne (22-14-6) made 18 saves to earn the win as Nashville edged two points ahead of Los Angeles for the West’s first wild-card position. Lehtonen (12-17-6) stopped 31 of 35 shots.
