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Arnott, Weber help Predators continue roll vs. Flames

Mar 9, 2007 - 6:53 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- As the injuries continue to pile up for the Nashville Predators, the goals keep doing the same for Jason Arnott and defenseman Shea Weber.

Arnott and Weber each scored twice and J.P. Dumont added a pair of assists as the Predators extended their unbeaten streak against the Calgary Flames to nine games with a 6-3 victory.

With Scott Nichol and defenseman Marek Zidlicky joining Peter Forsberg, Steve Sullivan and Scott Hartnell on the sidelines with injuries, Arnott and Weber did their part to help Nashville (45-18-6) increase its lead over idle Detroit (42-16-9) in the Central Division to three points and Anaheim (40-17-11) in the Western Conference to five.

"I was really concerned about tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "It was our first game back (from a road trip) against a good team, and we have some injuries in some areas. We came out really well."

"We always say that this team prides itself on our depth," Predators goaltender Chris Mason added. "We lost a lot of guys that are such a big part of our team. That's why we are where we are. With some big injuries, the other guys have stepped up and played unbelievably for us."

The Predators also moved three points in front of the Buffalo Sabres (44-17-5) in the race for the Presidents' Trophy.

"Getting the win was huge for us," Arnott said. "It was a solid game from the goaltending on outward for us."

Just 23 seconds after blue-liner Ryan Suter snapped a 22-game goalless drought midway through the first period to open the scoring, Arnott scored his second in as many contests to give Nashville a 2-0 lead. The veteran, who recently missed two games with the flu, completed the scoring 7 1/2 minutes into the third with his 300th career tally.

It also capped Arnott's fifth multi-goal performance of the season by Arnott, who added an assist on Suter's tally.

"(Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff) is an unbelievable goalie, so I was fortunate to get the two that I got," Arnott said. "Playing against a guy like him, you can't take anything for granted. He is one of the best goalies in the world. We got a lot of screens in front of him, so he wasn't able to see a lot of the times."

"I thought Arnott's line was excellent, they had a number of chances," Trotz said. "This morning, I told Jason I needed his A game."

Not to be outdone, Weber netted power-play goals 2:35 apart bridging the second and third sessions to provide the Predators a 5-2 advantage. It was the third two-goal effort of the campaign for the blue-liner, who has 15 tallies on the season.

"It's nice to score on a power play, no matter what," Weber said. "We're always looking to create scoring chances whenever we can on the power play."

Ramzi Abid scored his first NHL goal in more than three years and Mason made 28 saves for Nashville, which improved to 8-0-0 with one tie in its last nine meetings with Calgary and extended its overall streak of consecutive games with at least one point to nine (6-0-3).

"Obviously, it's fun to help this team as much as I can," Abid said. "It is a great team to play for and I'm happy to be here."

Captain Jarome Iginla tallied twice and Jeff Friesen also scored for the Flames (36-22-9), who had their five-game winning streak halted and are tied for sixth in the Western Conference with the Dallas Stars (38-23-5) and Minnesota Wild (37-24-7).

"I thought our discipline was not consistently strong enough, and it cost us the hockey game," Calgary coach Jim Playfair said. "It's the unnecessary penalties, it's the unforced errors. It's what we didn't do consistently to give ourselves a chance."

Suter got the scoring started at 11:31 of the first with a wrist shot from the blue line, and Arnott netted his 23rd of the season moments later on a backhander after skating down the slot.

Iginla halved the deficit 41 seconds later, backhanding the puck just inside the right goalpost before Weber was able to keep it from crossing the goal line.

Playing in just his second game of the season and 24th since 2002-03, when he appeared in 30 with Phoenix and Pittsburgh, Abid made it 3-1 when his wrister from the right faceoff circle sailed over Kiprusoff's right shoulder at 9:22 of the second period. It was the 26-year-old's first tally since December 3, 2003 with the Penguins.

"Vern (Fiddler) gave (the puck) to me, and my first thought was to give it back to him," Abid said. "But the defenseman stayed on him. I saw the shot and it was lucky to get in."

Iginla finished his seventh two-goal effort of the season with 3:20 to go in the session, but Weber answered during a 5-on-3 power play, beating Kiprusoff with a slap shot from the left point with two seconds remaining.

"They are tough to come back from when they score, especially with two seconds left in the second period," Flames defenseman Robyn Regehr said.

Weber scored during another two-man advantage early in the third on a one-timer from above the left circle. Defenseman Kimmo Timonen assisted on the tally to extend his points streak to seven games.

"The guys did a great job of getting in front of the net," Weber said. "I shoot where I think I should shoot it."

"A couple of 5-on-3s, it's hard to beat a team like that when you are sitting in the (penalty) box," Calgary's Tony Amonte said. "They are the best team in the league, they are going to hurt you."