Stars 3, Predators 1
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -Half a minute of poor play was enough to end the Nashville Predators' six-game winning streak.

Loui Eriksson and Matt Niskanen scored goals 30 seconds apart early in the third period to give the Dallas Stars a 3-1 victory over Nashville on Tuesday.

Trevor Daley also scored for Dallas while Shea Weber scored for Nashville, which is sixth in the Western Conference.

Dallas won for the second time in three games despite being outshot 35-14.

"You can see how much confidence (Nashville) is playing with," Dallas coach Marc Crawford said. "When they make a mistake, they don't get worried. It's a nice feeling, it comes from winning. Hopefully we can put a few wins together so we'll have that feeling too."

Just a minute and a half into the third period, Brad Richards intercepted a pass by Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter just outside of the Predators' blue line. Richards found Eriksson on the right side, and he beat Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne with a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. Rinne finished with 11 saves.

"I tried to shoot it quick, and I went high glove there," Eriksson said. "He wasn't able to save it, so it was nice that it went in."

Niskanen gave the Stars a 3-1 lead 30 seconds later with a slap shot from the right point through traffic that beat Rinne on the far side.

"They executed, and it was a couple of quick goals in two minutes at the beginning of the third period," Rinne said. "You have to go through it and then forget it after that."

After a scoreless first period, Daley opened the scoring at 8:10 of the second period.

From the left of the Nashville net, Richards threw the puck in front. Rinne tried to pounce on the puck, but it trickled into the low slot and Daley sent a one-timer into the vacated net.

"Tonight was one that could have gone either way," Daley said. "We found a way to win tonight, but obviously our goalie was unreal tonight."

Daley's goal was his 100th career point.

Weber tied the game at 1 at 16:02 of the middle period with a slap shot from the right circle that sailed over the glove of Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

"We definitely played with a lack of urgency," Weber said. "We weren't really jumping the pucks and playing the way we're used to."

Steve Sullivan and Suter assisted on Weber's goal.

"Obviously, we had plenty of shots and plenty of chances," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We had some chances, but just didn't finish."

Lehtonen made 34 saves for Dallas.

"It's always good to get some shots, and I think our guys were keeping them in the corners," Lehtonen said. "We were in a good situation after two, we were able to keep it 1-1 on the road against a hot team. We were confident and we got a couple of quick goals right away."

Notes: Nashville captain Jason Arnott missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. ... Sullivan has points in five of his past six games. ... Richards has points in six consecutive games. ... Dallas C Mike Modano missed his fifth straight game.


Three star selections
1st:   LOUI ERIKSSON
2nd:   KARI LEHTONEN
3rd:   BRAD RICHARDS
Winning Goaltender
Kari Lehtonen

Losing Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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