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Erat's OT goal caps Predators' wild victory

Nov 16, 2007 - 5:44 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Martin Erat refused to let the Nashville Predators' impressive third-period comeback go for naught.

Erat scored 19 seconds into overtime as the Predators posted a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

Alexander Radulov added a goal and two assists for Nashville, which rallied from a two-goal deficit in the third to take the lead before yielding a game-tying, power-play goal in the final minute.

"Our team has never really done things very easily," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "With or without the lead, we are pretty resilient. We have a way of finding ways to win."

Trailing, 3-1, after two periods, the Predators scored three straight goals to take the lead late in the third.

"We created turnovers in the third, and when you create turnovers, you can transition and make plays," Nashville's Vernon Fiddler said. "We were down two goals going into the third. That means you don't have any points. We knew that they played last night, so we wanted to take it to them."

Radulov began the comeback at 4:55, converting a pass by Fiddler, who split a pair of defenders in the left faceoff circle before feeding the Russian in the slot.

"It was important for us to get one goal early in the third," Radulov said. "We stayed with our plan in the third and played a simple game."

Fiddler netted the equalizer midway through the session. David Legwand skated across the ice near the blue line and threw the puck toward the net. It hit the skate of Fiddler in the slot and went between the pads of goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin at 10:07, tying the game at 3-3 after a lengthy video review.

"We have to have a better mind set going into the third period," Chicago's Jason Williams said. "We've got to learn to bury teams."

"You've got to give (the Predators) credit for the way they came out in the third," Blackhawks coach Denis Savard said. "For us, the problem was coverage. For our young D, they will learn. These are growing pains for them."

Radek Bonk put Nashville ahead with 3:18 remaining. From behind the net, Radulov skated out on the right side and dished to Bonk, who was standing in the crease for an easy tally.

"In the third, we just said we have to win the first 10 minutes," Trotz said. "We won both the first 10 and last 10 minutes."

However, with the Blackhawks on a power play and Khabibulin pulled for an extra attacker, Williams received a cross-ice pass from the right circle by 18-year-old Patrick Kane and fired the puck past netminder Chris Mason with 43 seconds left in the third, knotting the game at 4-4.

"Langer (Robert Lang) did a good job of winning the draw," Williams said. "Kane made a great pass across the center. I just tried to get it on net, and it happened to go in. In the end, it doesn't matter because we didn't win the game."

"I saw it released, but it just got by me," Mason said. "That's what happens when you put pucks on the net."

Shortly after the opening faceoff in overtime, Erat dished to Bonk and headed toward the net before receiving a return pass. Khabibulin stopped the shot from the doorstep, but the rebound bounced off the left arm of defenseman Brent Seabrook and into the net, giving the Predators their third straight win.

"In overtime, you have the point, but you want to go for the second point," said Erat, who has three goals and three assists in his last two games. "When I went on the ice with Radek, we said we were going to go for it, and we did. I drove to the net and Bonky made a great play to throw it there."

Captain Jason Arnott scored a goal and Mason made 27 saves for Nashville, which improved to 9-0-0 when netting the game's first tally.

Rookie Jonathan Toews, defenseman James Wisniewski and Patrick Sharp also tallied for the Blackhawks, who fell to 0-1-1 on their six-game road trip.