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Photos: PIT 4, NSH 3 (OT)
Video: Game Highlights
Video: Martin Erat | Trotz Presser
Statistics: Game Summary
Tickets: Preds vs. Blues - 10/28

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Kris Letang scored on a slap shot with 1:11 left in overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Thursday night.

Sidney Crosby added two goals and an assist for Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist and Letang helped set up two scores, in addition to his winning goal.

David Legwand, Cody Franson and Patric Hornqvist scored for Nashville, which has played three consecutive overtime games. Martin Erat had two assists.

Hornqvist gave the Predators a 3-2 lead with a wrister a little more than five minutes into the third but Crosby tied it at the 12:56 mark, beating Pekka Rinne with a slap shot from the left circle for his sixth goal of the season.

Nashville jumped in front just 53 seconds into the game. Jordin Tootoo passed the puck to Legwand, who was stationed in front of the crease on the right side and beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a wrist shot.

Malkin tied it early in the second, scoring on a rebound of Mike Comrie's shot.

Franson responded with a slap shot from high in the slot at the 8:03 mark that snapped a two-game power-play drought by the Predators.

Crosby has 10 points in his last eight games, including six goals. His wrister at 13:51 in the second went off of Rinne's leg pads and into the net, tying it at 2.

NOTES: Legwand's goal was the second time this season the Predators have scored in the first minute of a game. They did not score in the first minute of a game last season.

POST-GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Barry Trotz
On Sidney Crosby and the game…
It was hard to maintain him and Malkin; there’s no question. You have to change the channel. This is the third time we’ve lost in overtime. They were good. We don’t get to see Sidney Crosby and Malkin very often, but when we do, up close and personal, they’re pretty dynamic. They can do some great things. It was the third goal and we were all over the puck and Malkin finds it. He can do things in small places, just as Sid can. They’re just great players. They made the plays that they needed to make. I looked at the whole game. I thought we got off to a great start. Obviously, we scored right off the bat and sort of went after them. I thought the first period was a decent period. If it would have been a second later, then it wouldn’t have been as good as a period.

I thought in the first period, we weren’t executing our power plays at a very high rate, but we got a goal. That’s what happens sometimes. I was happy. The other day we had lots of chances and didn’t get a goal. I thought the penalty kill did a great job against a pretty dynamic power play that could do a lot of different things and show a lot of different looks. Obviously, we had the lead and they tied it up and then losing in overtime. I really thought we got on our heels in the third and it was hard to get going. They kept coming at us. They take those long shifts and they can wear you down.

A lot of stuff that they did in the first half of the game that got a lot of their chances were things that we did. I thought earlier we had some bad changes. We turned the puck over way too many times, so Peks (Rinne) had to be really good. The goal that started the second period—that isn’t exactly the way I wanted to start the second period, but overall he made some big saves. We had a chance to win in overtime; J-P (Dumont) hit the cross bar with the puck in the crease, but we just didn’t get to it.

On losing three overtime games in a row at home…
It’s one of those things where you got the point. If we got one or two points in every game, that’d be great. We’ve played some good teams and we’ve got points out of them, but at the same time I’d like to be on the two-side more often – especially the last three games. At the same time though, a point is a lot better than a loss.


Forward Colin Wilson
On his assist on Hornqvist’s goal…
It came off the boards and I was actually thinking about shooting but I saw Hornqvist and he called for it so I just made a great play to him. We were the only ones really on that end and he made the shot; it went off the post and in and out of the net.

On Pittsburgh having more intensity after every Predators goal…
They came out and they were going really hard in the third. We keep having great starts, but we have to finish the game. We’ve got to be better and match their intensity. We’ve got to come out and match their energy.


Defenseman Cody Franson
On the game being entertaining both for fans and players…
It was a great game to play. It was fast-paced and they had some skilled guys and it makes it fun for us to play. It challenges us as a group and we enjoy playing under circumstances like that. It makes us better players and a better team.

On Pittsburgh having more intensity after every Predators goal…
They are definitely a good team and good teams are relentless. They didn’t have any quit in their game but I thought that we played a pretty strong game and we had a slip-up in the end that cost us.