In Nashville, the Predators’ Erik Haula scored 3:32 into extra time to defeat the visiting Dallas Stars, 1-0, on Saturday night.
“Well, what a game,” Predators head coach John Hynes said. “I think you knew both teams were going to come in and play as hard as they could. I thought it was a hard-fought battle by both teams. There wasn’t a lot of room on the ice, lots of physicality. I thought both goaltenders played really well. A playoff-style game, playoff-style atmosphere. Our fans were fantastic. I just liked that we were able to find a way to win and stay with it against a really good team. It was a good night for us.”
Jusse Saros made 28 saves in the win.
“I feel like our group felt confident,” Haula said. “I think it showed with the way that we played in the third period. I thought we were dictating. We were getting the puck in their zone. We had them hemmed a couple of times for some long shifts. I think you’ve got to be pretty proud of the way we showed up in the third and played. Obviously it’s a big game and we knew what was at stake. Being able to play your best in the third was great to see, I thought.”
Nashville topped the Stars in the season series, 5-3-0.
“We played our hearts out,” Stars chead oach Rick Bowness said. “We did. We did. We didn’t give up much and obviously we didn’t score, and we need to score. But in terms of the effort and the commitment to the team, 100 percent satisfied.”
The Predators hold the fourth spot in the Central and lead Dallas by three points.
“It’s big points and a big win,” Saros said. “It was a really tight game. We just stayed with it and eventually got it done. … We’ve still got some business to do here. It’s a fun, tight race.”
Dallas wasted the effort of Anton Khudobin, who made 33 saves in the loss.
“It’s a tough one,” Dallas’ Radek Faksa said. “I think we battled hard the whole 60 minutes. Even in the overtime we did a pretty good job on the [penalty kill]. It’s a tough one, a tough bounce. We were hoping we’d win this one because it was really important. I think we worked really hard. Tough bounce, but we’ve still got five games to go and we’ve still got a good chance to make the playoffs. We need to keep the head up and keep working hard.”
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