Predators 3 - 2 Stars
Final
  for this game

Cullen, Preds send Stars to 6th straight loss

Nov 7, 2014 - 6:46 AM Dallas, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Cullen's goal with 6:13 to play in regulation led the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg both scored power-play goals, while Mattias Ekholm and Derek Roy each supplied two assists for the Predators, who have won two of their last three games.

Pekka Rinne turned aside 33 shots in the win.

"I think (Rinne) was the difference maker at the end," said Dallas head coach Lindy Ruff.

Trevor Daley and Patrick Eaves each lit the lamp and Kari Lehtonen made 30 saves in Dallas' sixth straight loss.

Dallas pulled the goalie late and had their chances. Jamie Benn had a wide- open net to shoot at, but fired the puck wide and Rinne came up with several big saves, including one on a bouncing puck as the final horn sounded, to preserve the win.

Ekholm held the puck in at the left point and shipped it along the boards down to Roy behind the net. Roy gathered it and moved out towards the right side of the cage, where Cullen took Roy's dish and snuck a shot between Lehtonen's arm and the pipe for a 3-2 lead with 6:13 remaining.

After Ryan Garbutt was called for a slashing penalty, Smith gave Nashville a 1-0 lead 4:10 into the second on the power play. Roy dished a pass to Smith, whose snap shot from the slot caught Lehtonen sliding the other way.

Forsberg skated to the left circle and released a wrister that eluded a screened Lehtonen for a 2-0 advantage with 6:03 to play in the middle stanza.

Daley's determined coast-to-coast effort whittled the deficit in half just over two minutes later.

After a failed 2-on-1 for Nashville, Daley gathered a loose puck from behind the Dallas net and led the rush through the middle of the ice. Three Nashville players converged on him, but Daley cut to his left and got off a wrist shot that fooled Rinne for a 2-1 game.

The Stars tied the game 7:23 into the third after Eaves backhanded a rebound into the top of the net.

"I liked our response after that," Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. "We got back in there end and started forechecking and playing down in the offensive zone again."

Game Notes

Forsberg has scored in each of his past three games, tallying four goals in that span ... Stars forward Cody Eakin was a late scratch due to an upper-body injury ... Nashville forward Eric Nystrom played in his 500th career game ... The Predators also defeated the Stars, 4-1, in Nashville on Oct. 11.






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