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Oilers top Predators, stop 6-game skid

Jan 27, 2014 - 5:37 AM Edmonton, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Smyth was one of four Edmonton skaters to notch a goal and an assist, as the Oilers snapped a six-game slide with a 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Sunday at Rexall Place.

Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each lit the lamp and added a helper, while Nail Yakupov also found the back of the net for Edmonton, which received 34 saves from Ben Scrivens.

"We carried momentum shift after shift," Smyth said. "We needed a win to build some confidence."

David Legwand netted Nashville's lone goal, while Carter Hutton allowed all five goals on 27 shots for the Predators, who have lost two straight.

Legwand scored with 4:35 left in the opening frame to tie the game at 1-1, but the Oilers responded with four unanswered goals to run away with the contest.

"I'm quite disappointed," Predators head coach Barry Trotz said. "We had it 1-1 late in the first and I thought we would be in good shape."

Eberle broke the deadlock with 12 seconds left on the first-period clock, tapping in a slick feed from Taylor Hall on the low right side to make it 2-1.

Nashville appeared to pull even less a minute into the second stanza, but Taylor Beck was called for goaltender interference on the play to nullify the score.

Edmonton then extended its edge on the power play at 10:12, when Smyth camped out in front and pounded home a rebound for a 3-1 lead.

Yakupov blasted a one-timer from between the circles at 16:46 to increase the cushion before Nugent-Hopkins put one home from the low right side with the Oilers on a power play at the 15:32 mark of the third to account for the final margin.

Schultz opened the scoring just under three minutes into the game, ripping a wrister high over Hutton from the low left circle to make it 1-0.

Legwand led a 2-on-1 rush later in the first and ripped a wrister past Scrivens' blocker from the right circle to tie the tilt at 15:25.

Game Notes

Hutton had won four straight starts ... Nashville fell to 1-17-2 when trailing after one period ... Smyth's power-play goal was the 125th of his career, tying him with Wayne Gretzky for second all-time on Edmonton's PPG list ... Scrivens notched his first win with Edmonton since being acquired from Los Angeles on Jan. 15 ... Nashville went 0-for-3 on the power play while Edmonton finished 2-for-3 on the power play.