Predators rally in third for 6-5 win over Jets

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Trailing 5-2 in the third period, the Nashville Predators reeled off three straight goals to stun the Winnipeg Jets, 6-5 on the road.

Ryan Hartman capped the rally with a minute left in regulation.

“I didn’t really have to do much for it, Josi put that right on my tape,” Hartman said. “I saw that seam, obviously he saw that seam, and I just pretty much put my knee on my stick there to make sure I didn’t get lifted under my stick. But he put that right on my tape.”

The win moved the Preds four points ahead of the Jets for the race in the Central Division for the top spot; they improved to 39-14-9.

Pekka Rinne made 34 saves to get the win.

“The response once we went down two goals to get it back right away, I thought was really important,” Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. “That put life back on the bench.”

Craig Smith struck twice for Nashville and  Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris and Mattias Ekholm also scored.

Roman Josi had five assists in the win.

Mark Scheifele scored two goals and Matt Hendricks and Nikolaj Ehlers added single markers.

“When you get up in a game, you have to continue to play the same way,” Scheifele said. “You can’t sit back, especially against a team with the skill that they have and the work ethic they have. It’s a matter of fixing a few things.”

The Jets’ Paul Stastny struck in his first game since arriving from St Louis this week.

“It’s a whirlwind for me,”  Stastny said. “There was a couple big momentum changes. It’s clichĂ©, but that next shift really does mean a lot. A couple times after we scored a big goal, they came back and scored right away.”

[WATCH: All Predators vs. Jets highlights]

Connor Hellebuyck made 26 saves in the loss.

“Get up by two, they score two quick, we score a couple … it was just kind of a roller-coaster ride all night,” the Jets’ Blake Wheeler said. “Some chances on both sides that didn’t go in, some chances that did go in. I think it was not what we expected out of the game, but one that we would have liked to finish off.”