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Arnott, Ellis lift Predators past Oilers

Nov 3, 2007 - 5:24 AM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- The Nashville Predators are enjoying their jaunt through Western Canada.

Jason Arnott scored the game-winning goal and Dan Ellis made 30 saves as the Predators defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 4-1, on Friday.

David Legwand, Radek Bonk and Vernon Fiddler also scored for Nashville.

The victory was the second in as many nights for the Predators, who blanked the Vancouver Canucks, 3-0, on Thursday as Ellis stopped 29 shots to record his second career shutout.

"I feel good, I'm happy with the fact that the team plays well when I'm in there," Ellis said. "We got in a little late last night, but I'm used to coming in on a bus, so coming in on a plane makes it simple. It's nice to be able to help the team out when I get the opportunity."

Nashville may have a bit of a goaltending controversy after Ellis' two solid outings. The team's top netminder, Chris Mason, has lost a career-high seven straight starts, posting a 5.08 goals-against average during the slide.

The Predators scored three goals in just over six minutes in the third period to seal the victory.

With the game tied at 1-1 and 7:51 remaining in the session, Arnott accepted a crisp feed from Martin Erat and beat out-of-position goaltender Mathieu Garon for the deciding goal.

"We've been struggling on the road, as of late, to score," Arnott said. "The last two games has been our least amount of shots on net - and yet we come out with two wins. It's a positive, but we need to shoot more pucks, for sure."

Less than three minutes later, Bonk forced a turnover at the blue line before skating in and beating Garon on a breakaway to give the Predators a 3-1 advantage.

Fiddler added an empty-netter with 83 seconds left to end the contest.

After Legwand staked the Predators to a 1-0 lead just 2:38 into the second period, Ales Hemsky leveled the game with a nifty wrist shot from the right faceoff circle.

"I think we played a decent game," Hemsky said. "Everyone worked hard, we did the things we were supposed to do, but we can't make those mistakes. If you can't score a lot of goals, you have to play a tight game."

Garon made 19 saves for Edmonton, which has lost nine of its last 12 games.

Nashville has won two straight on the road after losing its first five away from home, something coach Barry Trotz is pleased to see.

"Winning on the road is much tougher than winning at home, so they mean more to me," Trotz said. "You find out a lot more about your team on the road than you do at home."