In Nashville, the Predators’ hot streak was snapped in a 4-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Jeff Skinner hit for a pair of goals in the win.
Aaron Dell made 29 saves in in the Sabres win, his first win for Buffalo.
“Our guys deserved to win,” Sabres head coach Don Granato said. “They worked for it. They earned it from the first drop of the puck all the way to the end.”
It was the Sabres first win in seven games.
“Buffalo was the better team,” Predators head coach John Hynes said. “They were faster, they were harder, and they were more competitive. They executed with the puck better. They were the better team tonight.”
Before signing on with Buffalo, Dell had been icing for the Rochester Americans in the American Hockey League.
The Sabres improved to 11-19-6.
Matt Duchene was the lone striker for the Predators.
“Definitely not our best game,” the Predators’ Roman Josi said. “I think we came out kind of flat, didn’t have a good first period. They were just faster. They were quicker on pucks and outbattled us. I thought we played a little better in the second, but just overall, we didn’t have enough pressure. We didn’t have enough zone time in their end.”
Before the loss, Nashville had been 12-1-1 in 14 games.
Mark Jankowski added a single maker for the Sabres.
“Big team win,” Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin said. “We competed hard today. It gives us confidence that we can beat Nashville, who is a really good team.”
Vinnie Hinostroza scored an empty-net goal with 74 seconds left on the game clock for the 4-1 final.
The Preds dropped to 24-12-2.
Juuse Saros made 17 saves in the Nashville loss.
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