Flyers 2 - 4 Predators
Final
  for this game

Preds down Flyers

Jan 15, 2012 - 6:20 AM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Martin Erat and Mike Fisher posted a goal and assist each as Nashville downed Philadelphia, 4-2, at Bridgestone Arena.

Nick Spaling and Sergei Kostitsyn also tallied for the Predators, winners in four straight and seven of eight.

Pekka Rinne came up with 36 saves to post his fourth straight victory.

"They get a lot of their goals off the rush and in the blue paint," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "You have to win the crease area and tonight we did a pretty good job of that."

Sean Couturier and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers, who had taken four of five coming in.

Ilya Bryzgalov was tagged for three goals on 24 shots in the setback.

Spaling provided a 3-1 cushion for the Preds at the 4 1/2-minute mark of the third period when he tipped in a Jordin Tootoo offering through Bryzgalov's pads.

But the Flyers got back to a goal just before the midway point as Simmonds followed up a Matt Read rebound and stashed home his 12th of the season from atop the Nashville crease.

Philly failed to click on a power play after Colin Wilson was sent off for tripping with 8:25 to play, and Fisher hit the empty net with 40 seconds on the clock.

Nashville appeared to get on the board at 4:47 of the opening period, when Gabriel Bourque's poke from behind the net caromed off Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen and inside the near post, but a review disallowed the score.

The Preds finally pumped one home on the power play with 57.7 seconds to go as Erat followed up his own blocked shot and bounced one through while Patric Hornqvist screened Bobrovsky.

Kostitsyn doubled the hosts' edge at 10:36 of the second on a trademark wrister from between the circles.

Couturier halved the Philadelphia deficit by one-timing a Simmonds feed into the top-left corner of the net less than two minutes later. But the Flyers didn't sustain enough pressure to get the equalizer.

"I felt sometimes we had traffic, but if he sees the first shot he's going to make the save," Simmonds said of Rinne.

Game Notes

Nashville has won three straight at home vs. Philadelphia, after going winless (0-2-2) in its first four meetings on friendly ice...Couturier has scored in four straight contests...Prior to the game, Nashville recalled forward Chris Mueller from Milwaukee of the AHL and placed forward Jerred Smithson on injured reserve.






Related News