In Nashville Tuesday night, the Predators needed to go all the way to a shootout to finally defeat the visiting Minnesota Wild, 2-1.
Kyle Turris was credited with the deciding goal in the skills competition.
Pekka Rinne 22 saves to get the win as the Preds improved to 49-16-11.
Roman Josi staked Nashville to a 1-0 lead early in the game.
“I think it was our best game for a while now,” Josi said. “I thought we played really well defensively. They didn’t have too many chances, and obviously [Rinne] whenever they had a chance was there for us. I thought it was a complete effort from us. It’s good to be back on the winning ways.”
The Wild needed Eric Staal’s 40th goal of the season late in the third period to get the game to extra time.
“The effort, I thought, was great,” Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau said. “To come back against that team in this building, especially after the first, you take [five] penalties … in the second, I thought it showed a lot. It was a great point.”
The loser’s point enabled the Wild to be three points clear of the Dallas Stars who defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime Tuesday.
Nashville improved to 109 points in the race for the NHL’s President’s Cup.
“Any time you play your own division, a lot of times it really is a four-point game,” Rinne said. “There’s always big swings when you play in your own division, and we’ve been doing a really good job. I think our coaching staff does a great job also of preparing us and making sure that we understand that it’s a division game or even a Western Conference game.”
[WATCH:Â All Wild vs. Predators highlights]
Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves to take the loss for Minnesota.
“It was tough, and I didn’t think it would be able to get done. [Rinne] looked like he was right on top of his game. Just to persevere and get that goal, and unfortunately you lose in the shootout. But at this stage of the game, you’d love to have two, but one point is a big point,” Boudreau said.
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