DALLAS (AP) Filip Forsberg scored two goals early in the third period and the Nashville Predators beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Saturday night.
Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist, and Luke Evangelista also scored for the Predators, who are 5-0-1 in their last six road games and pulled within four points of third-place Dallas in the Central Division. Kevin Lankinen finished with 26 saves in his eighth start in place of Juuse Saros, whoās second in the NHL with 31 starts.
āHeās definitely not a backup goalie,ā Forsberg said of Lankinen. āWe just happen to have another guy thatās pretty good.ā
Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn also scored for the Stars, who finished 2-2-1 on a five-game homestand - including three consecutive losses. Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves.
Tied 2-2 after two periods, Forsberg slipped a backhander behind Wedgewood 2:42 into the third to put Nashville ahead, and came around the back of the net and curled a shot off Wedgewoodās right skate into the net at 7:30 for a two-goal lead.
āThatās what Fil does,ā Nyquist said. āTwo big goals in the third when we needed them the most.ā
Robertson pulled Dallas within one just past the midpoint of the period.
The Predators gained a measure of revenge after the Stars pulled out a 3-2 win at Nashville on Dec. 23 by becoming the first NHL team to score the tying and winning goals in the final 15 seconds.
āIt felt like there were a lot more than six seconds left at the end (following the final faceoff),ā Forsberg said. āBut we played great. I think defensively they didnāt have any chances there at the end.
āWe obviously learned from that. Weāve got to play all the way through.ā
Nashville lost its five previous games against Dallas.
Lankinen, appearing in his 100th NHL game, gloved Mason Marchmentās penalty shot almost three minutes into the second period.
Forsberg, headed to his second All-Star Game, has team highs of 21 goals and 45 points. It's his eighth season of at least 20 goals.
Wedgewood made his 10th consecutive start and 11th straight appearance since taking over early in Dallasā Dec. 15 game for All-Star Jake Oettinger, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury.
āHeās probably running out of a little bit of gas,ā Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of Wedgewood. āWeāve asked a lot of him.ā
The Predators built a 2-0 lead on Nyquistās score at 11:26 of the first period and Evangelistaās goal at 7:22 of the second.
A goal by Dallasā Sam Steel almost six minutes into the second period was disallowed for being offside following a Predators challenge.
Seguin scored at 9:28 of the second and Benn tied the score at 2-all with a deflection with 45.4 seconds left in the period -- 5 seconds into a power play.
Ten of Dallasā last 11 games have been decided by one goal (5-3-2),
UP NEXT
Predators: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.
Stars: At Minnesota on Monday night to begin a home-and-home set.
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