Special teams have been a sore spot for the Predators during the early stages of the season. However, the Predators got two power-play goals and a game-winner from Matt Cullen with 6:13 remaining in regulation to earn a 3-2 victory against the Stars at American Airlines Center. Cullen beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen to the short side as Lehtonen was screened by Trevor Daley, one of his own defensemen, to snap a 2-2 tie. Derek Roy, who had two assists for Nashville, dug the puck out from behind the Dallas net and Cullen finished from the right circle for his first goal of the season. Pekka Rinne stopped 32 shots for Nashville, which also got two assists from Mattias Ekholm. The Predators built a 2-0 lead on power-play goals from Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg in the second period. Nashville also killed off the Stars' only power play of the night, making Dallas 0-for-14 on the power play in their past four games. Dallas whose winless streak reached six games, made it 2-1 late in the second when Daley beat Rinne after a solo rush. The Stars tied it early 7:23 into the third when Patrick Eaves scored off a rebound. After a relatively quiet first period in which each team finished with 10 shots, Nashville opened the scoring 4:10 into in the second on Smith's power-play goal. Smith's one-timer from the high slot went over Lehtonen's glove for his fifth goal of the season. Colin Wilson screened Lehtonen, who appeared not to see Smith's shot until the last moment.
Nashville got the power play when Ryan Garbutt was called for slashing James Neal at 3:17. The Predators made it 2-0 at 13:57 when Forsberg's power-play wrist shot from the left circle went over Lehtonen's right shoulder. Again Lehtonen was screened, this time by ex-teammate Mike Ribeiro. Dallas cut the margin in half at 16:26 when Daley scored an unassisted goal, slipping a wrister past Rinne that the Nashville goaltender appeared to not be expecting. Daley took possession inside the Dallas zone, rushed up the middle of the ice and with three Predators in close proximity got off a shot that went under Rinne's glove for his fifth goal of the season. Eaves tied it after Daley misfired on a slap shot from the slot that sailed to the left of the Nashville net but caromed off the end boards and landed in front of the Predators goal. Rinne stopped Tyler Seguin's shot but Eaves finished for his second goal of the season. Eaves was in the lineup after Cody Eakin was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Eakin did not practice Wednesday but participated in the morning skate with no apparent issues. Seguin had an assist on Eaves' goal, but he is the only member of Dallas' offensive triumvirate, which also includes captain Jamie Benn and offseason acquisition Jason Spezza, who has a point in the Stars' past four games. Lehtonen stopped 30 shots for Dallas.
Stars Quotes
Lindy Ruff: "We played better and got the same result. It's upper body. It may take some time, or it may not.”Trevor Daley: "It's tough. We still lost the game. We've won one game at home. It's frustrating right now. You try to take something out of it. We were the better team tonight. We didn't get the job done. We've got to stick with in practice. We've got to get back to doing things right, doing things hard, playing like we're a winning hockey team. It's frustrating in here so we've got to get that out of here."
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