Predators edge Chicago, 3-2

In Nashville Tuesday night, the Predators hosted the Chicago Blackhawks and it was all that one might hoped for in a contest of rivals.

The Preds took a 3-1 lead and then held on for a 3-2 win over a rejuvenated Hawks club.

Roman Josi scored a PP goal in 3-2 win over Chicago Tuesday night – file photo by Lewis Bleiman

The Predators got goals from Filip Forsberg, Austin Watson and Roman Josi and held a 3-1 lead until Chicago scored midway through the third to make the final 10 minutes intense.

“I think we have a lot of confidence in our team right now,” Josi said. “I think we have a lot of depth. I think we can roll four lines, three [defense] pairings and obviously getting great goaltending. It’s been a really good month for us for sure, and we’ve got to keep it up. We know how hard it is. There’s still a lot where we can be better, and we’ve got to work on those things too.”

Pekka Rinne stood tall in net with 37 saves for his fifth straight win.

Tommy Wingels scored and Lance Bouma struck in the third to make an interesting finish to the game.

“Great start,” Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. “In that second period we slowed down a bit. We tried to come back, we were down two and got a couple of good looks there at the end. They’re a good hockey team. You can’t have a lull in the game, and you’ve got to keep the pace up.”

The Preds power play unit has been effective at home this season with each of the 11 home games featuring power play strikes.

“I think power plays, sometimes you have ups and downs,” Josi said. “It’s going well right now. Pucks are going in for us, and I think we’re doing a good job of just getting pucks to the net. I think that’s the main thing. You’ve got to get pucks to the net, and then you can create seams or passes. But first you’ve got to shoot it, and I feel like we’ve been doing a good job of that.”

[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Predators highlights]

Anton Forsberg took the loss for Chicago and made 28 saves.

“I think that against them it’s all about the puck and how you keep it and where you put it. Better than April, but certainly still room for improvement,” Quenneville said of Nashville after the loss.

Chicago dropped to 12-9-3 with the loss.