Red Wings pick up big win over Predators

Detroit, MI –  Pavel Datsyuk posted a goal and an assist during a three-goal second period that propelled the Detroit Red Wings to a much-needed 5-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.

Datsyuk added another assist in the third, while Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Patrick Eaves and Justin Abdelkader each scored once for the Red Wings, who have three straight to move into the seventh spot in the Western Conference with 54 points.

"We need to win here down the stretch so it's all about playing the way we do," Franzen said. "We keep it simple. We get pucks to the net and we get traffic."

Detroit, which hasn't missed the playoffs since 1990, sits one point ahead of both Minnesota and Columbus.

Jimmy Howard stopped 20 shots in the victory.

Mike Fisher and Craig Smith registered a goal and an assist apiece for the Predators, who have lost nine of their last 10 and will miss the playoffs for just the second time in the past nine seasons.

Chris Mason made 33 saves in defeat.

"Early you could tell there was a lot of rust," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said of Mason. "He's hasn't played a lot, but he's a battler and he battled tonight."

With Nashville holding a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes, Detroit erupted for three goals in the middle stanza, with the first two coming in a 2:40 span early in the frame.

Franzen's tap-in from the low left side knotted the game at 2-2 just over a minute in before Eaves netted the go-ahead goal with a one-timer from the left circle at 3:41.

Datsyuk doubled Detroit's edge with under a minute left in the frame when he rifled a wrister from the slot past Mason to make it 4-2 with 46.5 ticks left.

Abdelkader added his 10th of the season with 3:59 remaining in the contest to account for the final margin.

Nashville netted the game's first goal just 1:46 in when Fisher buried a one- timer off a 2-on-1 rush with Rich Clune, but Filppula answered just over five minutes later with a one-timer past the far side of Mason at the 6:53 mark.

Smith restored Nashville's one-goal lead by potting a power-play marker with 7 1/2 minutes left in the opening period.

Game Notes

Detroit wrapped up its home slate at 13-7-4 ... Filppula's goal was the 100th of his career ... Franzen also added an assist ... Nashville center Joonas Rask made his NHL debut and didn't record a shot in 6:36 of ice time ... Detroit's regular-season schedule concludes Saturday in Dallas, while Nashville will finish the season in Columbus on Saturday.

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Weber's goal in OT lifts Predators over Red Wings

Nashville, TN –  Shea Weber scored 44 seconds into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 4-3 victory over the slumping Detroit Red Wings in a Central Division clash from Bridgestone Arena.

Weber added an assist on Craig Smith's first-period tally, while Colin Wilson recorded a pair of helpers to aid in the Predators halting a two-game skid. Gabriel Bourque and Roman Josi also had goals for Nashville, which received 26 saves out of goaltender Pekka Rinne as well.

Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary both had a goal and an assist for Detroit, with Datsyuk's marker tying the contest at 3-3 with 6:30 remaining in the third period. Former Predator Jordin Tootoo also lit the lamp in the loss, the Red Wings' fourth in a row.

Detroit's Jonas Gustavsson made 16 saves in relief of Jimmy Howard, who exited with an upper-body injury in the first period after letting in two goals on only seven shots.

Josi gave Nashville a 3-2 edge by firing a perfectly-placed shot from far out near the left boards that whistled past Gustavsson's glove with 7:06 left in regulation. The lead would be short-lived, however.

Just 36 seconds later, Datsyuk rushed up the center of the ice with a head of steam and bulled through two Nashville defenders before sending a wrister by Rinne for his eighth goal of the season.

The Predators couldn't convert on a power-play opportunity prior to OT, but cashed in less than a minute into extra time.

Wilson shot wide on an attempt after skating aggressively up the ice, but the puck caromed around the net and right to a trailing Weber, who found an opening along the right corner for the game-winning score.

Nashville started out the first period strongly as well, getting goals from Smith and Bourque to build a 2-0 advantage just past the midway stage of the session.

With Detroit's Jakub Kindl in the box for interference, Wilson set up Smith with an on-point centering pass across the crease just 5:01 in. Bourque made it a two-goal margin at 10:41 by re-directing Scott Hannan's blast from the left point past Howard.

Datsyuk and Cleary began to turn the momentum around by teaming up for a critical shorthanded score just under five minutes prior to the first intermission. Datsyuk stole the puck from behind the net and sent it out to Cleary, who snapped a wrister into the net to put the Red Wings on the board.

It remained a 2-1 game until the third period, when Tootoo scored from the right circle after cradling in Henrik Zetterberg's pass on a Detroit rush with 8:27 left in the frame.

Game Notes

Tootoo played eight seasons for the Predators before joining the Red Wings as a free agent over the summer, and was appearing at Bridgestone Arena for the first time in a visiting uniform ... Weber extended his point streak to four games and has notched three goals and three assists during that stretch ... Nashville went 1-of-6 on the power play and Detroit ended 0-of-2 with the man advantage ... Nashville center Paul Gastad missed the contest with an upper- body injury he suffered in Monday's loss to Colorado ... Nashville acquired minor league defenseman Scott Ford from St. Louis in exchange for forward Jani Lajunen on Tuesday.

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