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Two quick goals lifts Predators over Oilers

Mar 28, 2007 - 4:54 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Jason Arnott and J.P. Dumont came though at a critical juncture for the Nashville Predators.

Arnott and Dumont scored goals just over two minutes apart in the third period to lift the Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Defenseman Shea Weber and rookie Alexander Radulov also scored for the Predators (49-21-7), who took a two-point lead over the idle Detroit Red Wings (46-19-11) in the Central Division and a five-point lead over the idle Anaheim Ducks (44-20-12) for first in the Western Conference.

"We are a game up on Detroit, and we have two points on them," Nashville goaltender Tomas Vokoun said. "Obviously that won't mean much if we don't win on Thursday (vs. Detroit). It is going to be a battle to the end, but no matter how that plays out, there are much more important things ahead."

Vokoun made 24 saves for Nashville, which also took a two-point lead over the idle Buffalo Sabres (48-20-7) in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

After Toby Petersen gave the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 5:57 of the third period, the Predators struck quickly to get the victory.

Arnott tied the game at 3-3 when he took Dumont's pass from behind the net and jammed the puck past goaltender Dwayne Roloson at 6:21.

"We needed to make a quick response when they took the lead," Arnott said. "J.P. made a great pass, and I had a lot of the net to shoot at."

"In the third period they got the two quick goals there, and then I thought the Arnott goal was huge," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "That was a great response. Once he scored, I thought we played really well after that."

Just over two minutes later, Dumont scored the winner when he redirected Ramzi Abid's pass at the doorstep past Roloson for a 4-3 advantage.

"It was a quick turnover, and I just saw that Ramzi had the puck," Dumont said. "I just decided to go fast to the net, and he made an unbelievable pass. I don't think that Roloson was expecting a pass there. I don't want to miss those kinds of passes."

Petersen had given the Oilers a 3-2 lead at 5:57 when he cut towards the net and slipped the puck between Vokoun's pads.

"Obviously the third goal, I can't be happy about that one," Vokoun said. "Sometimes my game feels up and down. I have a good game and then I have an okay game. I just have to work through it."

Roloson made 24 saves for Edmonton, which lost for the 14th time in its last 15 games. The Oilers had scored just 18 goals during that span.

"We played hard," Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish said. "It's disappointing on a night we finally get a little bit of offense. We had the lead for a fraction of a second. We come in and score two goals to start the third, and quickly gave them both back."