In Nashville, Leon Draisaitl hit for a hat trick in a 4-0 win for the Edmonton Oilers over the Predators on Thursday night. 
Mike Smith made 30 saves in the shutout.
“We wanted to bounce back and have a better effort than we did in [Minnesota],” Smith said. “I think [it was] as complete an effort as you can have against a really good hockey team in their building.
“It’s always tough to play in here. It’s always a good atmosphere and the guys responded really well. Had a good start to the game, got up in the first and then kind of just carried the momentum of that throughout the whole 60, so it was good to see.”
Nashville dropped to 42-27-5, and are now tied with the Dallas Stars for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference.
“I thought we were too flat on our side,” the Predators’ Mattias Ekholm said. “I thought they came out and had a mission out there. We didn’t catch up to it in the first. We got out of that one with just a one-goal deficit, thanks to [Juuse Saros].
“It seemed like we had some instances here and there in the second and third where we had some energy. But overall, I thought we need to be better on a night like this, and they rightfully deserved the one.”
Darnell Nurse had a single marker for the Oilers.
“I think sometimes you just have a team that it seems to work a little better against than others,” Draisaitl said. “A couple of great plays tonight by some guys, and fortunately I took advantage of them.”
Juuse Saros made 28 saves in the Preds loss.
“Mentally, physically and emotionally, we have an opportunity to regroup here, and we have to respond to the performance tonight,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “So I’m anxious to get back with our group tomorrow and get some things figured out. I’m really looking forward to seeing our team respond on Saturday.”
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