Red Wings 4 - 6 Predators
Final
  for this game

Wilson guides Preds past Red Wings

Dec 31, 2013 - 6:55 AM Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) - Colin Wilson posted two goals and an assist as the Nashville Predators survived to take a 6-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Mike Fisher had a goal and two assists, while Nick Spaling, Craig Smith and Roman Josi all scored for the Predators, who have won their past two. Marek Mazanec stopped 21 shots in the win.

"We found a way to shut it down and get the next one when we needed it," said Fisher. "That's a sign of a good team, to be able to keep up with those guys over there."

This game was the last match Detroit will play until New Year's Day, when it hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium for the 2014 Winter Classic.

Detroit got goaltender Jimmy Howard back, as he had been out since Dec. 10 with a sprained left MCL. He was touched for five goals on 28 shots for the Red Wings, who had won three of four coming in.

"It wasn't very pretty," said Howard. "It was a battle all night and I felt like I was behind on a lot of pucks. I just couldn't get the right angles out there."

Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Patrick Eaves and Drew Miller all scored in the loss.

It was a 3-1 game going into the third, but the Red Wings made it a one-goal game just 35 seconds in on Datsyuk's one-timer from the right circle.

Nashville got it back five minutes later when Fisher found the back of the net on a wrister from the low left circle for a 4-2 advantage.

The Red Wings made it a 4-3 game at 11:30 as the puck was jammed into the net by Miller as Mazanec was without his stick, but the Preds answered 37 seconds later on Wilson's seventh of the season.

Detroit kept plugging away and made it a one-goal game on the power play as Eaves' one-timer from the left circle got past Mazanec, who was again without his stick, at 14:52.

Todd Bertuzzi, though, was whistled for tripping with 2:06 to play, and Josi eventually put the puck into the empty net as the Red Wings pulled Howard to skate 5-on-5.

Nashville got on the board just 1:54 into the game as Wilson skated through the middle and shot a puck that dropped down and fooled Howard for a 1-0 lead.

Detroit got the goal back just over a minute later as Abdelkader got the puck behind the left of the net and came out front before roofing a backhander for his fourth of the year.

The Predators, though, made it a 2-1 game halfway through the first as the team won a face-off in its own end and Smith went the other way. Skating the length of the ice and moving to the left circle, he threw a shot on net that beat Howard cleanly for his 11th of the season.

Nashville scored the only goal of the second period for a 3-1 advantage as a scrum along the boards in the Nashville end saw the puck pop out. Spaling skated down the right wing and his snap shot from the right circle beat Howard for a 3-1 lead.

Game Notes

Detroit forward Daniel Alfredsson was a late scratch with an upper-body injury ... Nashville begins a three-game road trip in Boston on Thursday ... Nashville has won both matchups with Detroit this season ... Detroit went 1- for-2 on the power play, while Nashville was 1-for-5.






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