In Nashville Saturday, the Predators made every effort to give away their game with the Pittsburgh Penguins; twice they gave up leads but newcomer Kyle Turris had the last word as he scored in the skills competition to get the Preds a 5-4 win.
“Just playing hockey, not thinking too much and just getting comfortable with my linemates,”Turris said. “Just playing.”
Pekka Rinne made 26 saves to get the win as Nashville won for the fourth straight time.
Despite the rallies during the game, the Pens dropped to -4-2 on the back end of two games in two nights.
“I liked our team tonight,” Pens head coach Mike Sullivan said. “It was a hard-fought game out there. I really liked our response. I liked our resilience. I think if we play hard like that and execute the way we did tonight, we’re going to win more games.”
The Pens’ Brian Dumoulin forced the extra session when he tied the game early in the third.
Calle Jarnkrok, Turris and P.K. Subban struck for regulation goals for the Preds.
“It was a lot of fun,” Turris said. “The crowd was real loud and the energy in the building, it was an exciting game.”
Craig Smithscored to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.
“[Smith’s] speed was pretty evident tonight,” Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette said. “The fact that he was delivering pucks to the net, that’s what you want from a power forward. I do think that, to be honest, [Turris] probably factored in that tonight. Just the way [Turris] plays the game. He’s an effortless skater. He plays the game fast.”
Phil Kessel, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust also scored for the Pens.
“I think for the most part of the game, we were all over them. I think we deserved a better fate. We controlled the entire overtime also. It was one of those games where it didn’t bounce our way, but I liked the effort. I liked the way we came back in the game,” Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang said after the loss.
[WATCH: All Penguins vs. Predators highlights]
Tristan Jarry made 24 saves in his second start for the Pens and has both in extra time.
“It obviously has a little history but at the same time, it’s a new season. We can’t think about that every time we play the Penguins. But at the same time, at this time of the season, we had won three in a row and we wanted one more. We did a good job,” the Preds’ Filip Forsberg said after defeating the Pens Saturday.
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