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Preds hope to flash more offense against Stars

Oct 11, 2014 - 2:33 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - It didn't take long for the Nashville Predators to show some offensive improvement under new head coach Peter Laviolette.

The Predators aim to begin the season with a second straight victory on Saturday night as they play host to the Dallas Stars.

Laviolette made his debut behind Nashville's bench with a 3-2 win over Ottawa on Thursday. The Predators trailed by a goal going into the third period despite 23 shots, but lit the lamp three straight times in the final frame.

Craig Smith scored on the power play 1:36 into the frame, defenseman Shea Weber scored on a wrap-around attempt near the mid-way mark and Eric Nystrom tallied with 9:40 to go.

Nashville began its first season with a coach not named Barry Trotz, who had been behind the bench since the club's inception in 1998. Trotz was always known for his defensive style with the Predators, but under Laviolette on Thursday the club unleashed 37 shots on net.

Seven of those were by James Neal, acquired this past offseason in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, while free agent signing Olli Jokinen had six shots.

"There was a lot of good that we did out there tonight," said Laviolette. "Overall, there were a lot of positives to take away from the game."

Pekka Rinne make 18 saves.

Nashville will play the second of three in a row at home tonight and will take on a Dallas club that began its campaign with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves, but gave up the lone goal of the tiebreaker as Patrick Kane roofed a backhander into the net.

The Stars led 2-1 after the second period on goals by Trevor Daley and Cody Eakin, but the Blackhawks tied things up on the power play with 8:50 to go in the third period.

"You can't criticize the effort in that game," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said. "The effort was tremendous. I thought we basically dominated the game for the first 40 minutes."

Jason Spezza, acquired from Ottawa over the summer, had an assist and two shots in his debut.

"It's disappointing not to get the win out of it," said Spezza. "We carried play for most of the night and then they got some momentum from the power plays in the third. For the most part, I thought we deserved a better fate tonight."

Ruff made forward Erik Cole a healthy scratch after he was late to practice on Monday. He should be back in the lineup tonight as Dallas begins a three-game road trip.

The Stars went 3-2 versus the Preds last season, but both losses came in Nashville. The Predators have won five of their last seven meetings at home versus the Stars.