National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Nashville 3, Tampa Bay 2
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Referees: Graham Skilliter, Gord Dwyer
Linesmen: Mike Cvik, Brad Lazarowich
Attendance: 16362

Predators 3, Lightning 2 (OT): James Neal scored at 4:27 of overtime as Nashville edged visiting Tampa Bay for its fifth victory in six games.

Neal was sprung loose by defenseman Roman Josi’s pass and warded off a defender before sliding the puck between Andrei Vasilevskiy’s pads. Taylor Beck and defenseman Seth Jones also scored for the Predators while Pekka Rinne turned aside 30 shots for his league-leading 31st victory.

Nikita Kucherov tallied for the fourth straight game and Brett Connolly added a goal for the Lightning, who trailed 2-0 after two periods. Vasilevskiy, a rookie who earned a point for the fifth time in six career decisions, made 26 saves.

The Lightning killed off two penalties in a scoreless first period and Vasilevskiy made eight saves, including a dazzling pad stop on Mike Ribeiro from alone at the right post. Rinne made a sprawling save on All-Star Tyler Johnson, and soon after Jones beat Vasilevskiy over the right shoulder from the right faceoff circle at 8:31 of the second.

Nashville doubled its advantage with 7:13 left in the middle session as Beck went to the net to sweep in the rebound of Paul Gaustad’s shot. Connolly chipped in a rebound 1:20 into the third and Tampa Bay tied it 6 ½ minutes later, when Kucherov batted in his 21st goal from the left side of the crease after receiving a feed from Ondrej Palat.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nashville D Mattias Ekholm and C Colin Wilson both missed the game with upper-body injuries. … Tampa Bay C Cedric Paquette sat out with an upper-body ailment that he suffered during the morning skate while D Jason Garrison returned after missing the last two contests. … Connolly’s goal gave Tampa Bay a league-high 10 players with at least 10 tallies. … Predators D Victor Bartley played in his 100th NHL contest.
Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   Nashville
Brett Connolly 1 Points Taylor Beck 1
Brett Connolly 1 Goals Taylor Beck 1
Valtteri Filppula 1 Assists Matt Cullen 1
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Andrei Vasilevskiy .897 Save Percentage Pekka Rinne .938
Andrei Vasilevskiy 26 Saves Pekka Rinne 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 32 2 0-2 2-2 11 30
Nashville 29 3 0-2 2-2 11 39
Upcoming Games
  • Nashville will play their next game at home against Winnipeg. The Predators have a W/L % of .543 after a win and .895 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against St. Louis. The Lightning have a W/L % of .543 after a win and .714 after a loss.