Stars 1 - 4 Predators
Final
  for this game

Preds bury Stars for second straight win

Oct 12, 2014 - 5:55 AM Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul Gaustad scored once in the third period and set up another Nashville goal shortly afterward to lift the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena.

Eric Nystrom also had a goal and an assist to help the Predators move to 2-0 under new head coach Peter Laviolette. Shea Weber and Roman Josi tallied as well for Nashville, while Pekka Rinne needed to make just 17 saves in a game the Preds outshot Dallas by a 33-18 count.

"It's good character," said Weber. "We got better as the game went on. They came out really fast and I just thought we got better."

Antoine Roussel potted the lone Dallas goal and Anders Lindback stopped 29- of-32 shots in the loss, the Stars' second straight to begin the season.

With the game tied at 1-1 nearing the midway mark of the third period, Nashville's Taylor Beck won a battle for the puck behind the Dallas net and sent it to Gaustad, who skated in all alone on Lindback and snuck a shot under the goaltender's pad at the 8:33 mark of the frame.

The Predators struck again a mere 81 seconds later, as Gaustad knocked a Dallas player off the puck to begin a 2-on-1 that ended with Nystrom converting a backhand try to extend the lead to 3-1.

Josi tacked on an empty-netter with under three seconds on the final clock to finish off Nashville's three-goal third period.

"I have to play my game," said Lindback. "It's a fast game and you just have to react out there."

Lindback had a shutout brewing until the final minute of the second period, when he failed to handle a puck Weber dumped on net from near the blue line to knot the score at 1-1.

Dallas had gotten the contest off to a good start, as Roussel was left open to the right of the Nashville net and knocked home a feed from Trevor Daley just over seven minutes in.

The Stars generated few offensive chances thereafter, though, as Nashville dominated the remainder of the game.

Game Notes

Weber and Nystrom also had goals in Nashville's 3-2 win over Ottawa in Thursday's season opener ... The Stars fell to 1-4-1 in their last six visits to Nashville ... Lindback was drafted by the Predators in 2008 and served two seasons as Rinne's backup in Nashville before being traded to Tampa Bay in June of 2012.






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