NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ryan Suter’s power-play goal at 9:04 of the third period broke tie, and the Nashville Predators beat the slumping Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Thursday night to snap a five-game losing streak.
Pittsburgh has lost six of its last seven games.
With Penguins defenseman Rob Scuderi in the penalty box for interference, Suter fired a slap shot from the top of the left faceoff circle. The puck deflected off of Pittsburgh defenseman Mark Eaton and past goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
Petr Sykora put the Penguins in front 1-0 at 14:18 of the first period off of a nice pass from Sidney Crosby. Pittsburgh made 3-0 on goals by Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot 21 seconds apart before the second period was 4 minutes old.
Staal’s goal spelled the end of the night for Nashville goalie Dan Ellis, with Predators coach Barry Trotz lifted his starter for backup Pekka Rinne.
Earlier Thursday, Staal signed a four-year contract extension with the Penguins.
Nashville scored three consecutive goals to conclude the wild second period.
Martin Erat’s goal at 7:57 got the Predators on the board. David Legwand scored a short-handed goal at 13:32, and Jerred Smithson tied it with 54.6 left in the second.
Legwand’s goal was set up by Erat on a 2-on-1 short-handed rush. From the left side, Erat sent a cross-ice pass to Legwand in the right circle. Legwand beat a helpless Fleury with a one-timer to the glove side. Two of Legwand’s seven goals on the season have been scored with the Predators short-handed.
Greg Zanon’s empty-net goal capped the scoring for Nashville.
Notes: Prior to the game, the NHL presented Nashville captain
Jason Arnott with a silver stick in honor of his 1,000th game played on Dec. 20. … Pittsburgh has allowed eight short-handed goals against this season.
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