NASHVILLE http://www.senatorsshoponline.com/authentic-mark-stone-jersey , Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators know they might well end up seeing Dallas in the first round of the playoffs, and that made protecting home ice even more crucial after a loss here to the Stars only six days ago.Ryan Johansen scored 43 seconds into overtime and the Predators beat the Stars 3-2 on Thursday night for their second straight win and a little cushion in the Central Division.“They’ve been playing some very good hockey lately, and we’re not going to let that happen anymore, especially in our building,” Johansen said.Juuse Saros made 27 saves to improve to 14-6-1, with wins in six of his last seven starts.Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist, and Craig Smith also scored for Nashville, which evened the season series at 2-2-0 and pushed the second-place Predators’ lead to nine points over the Stars in the division.Taylor Fedun and Miro Heiskanen scored for Dallas, which ended its season-high five-game winning streak.Saros made a pad save on Alexander Radulov with 1:38 left in regulation, and Nashville had a chance late with Johansen’s shot from the slot wide.Johansen made up for that with his winner with a wrister from the inside edge of the right circle set up by a pass from Arvidsson.“Great individual play there,” Johansen said of his linemate. “We were kind of looping and swooping waiting for some space. Even when he got it down in the corner Youth Matt Duchene Jersey , it was bobbling and he had to make a good play and he put it right in my wheelhouse. It’s good to finish it off.”Nashville had a lot on the line, wanting revenge after a 3-1 loss to the Stars last weekend.“It’s good to get a win just because they’ve beaten us the last two times,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said of the Stars. “They’re playing well right now.”The Predators also debuted forwards Brian Boyle and Cody McLeod after a pair of trades Wednesday , and center Kyle Turris returned after missing the last 17 games because of an injury. The 6-foot-6 Boyle immediately joined the top power-play unit, planting himself in front of the net, and McLeod just missed on a scoring chance in the second.Khudobin came in having allowed only one goal in Dallas’ last two wins over Nashville, and he robbed Kevin Fiala on a 2-on-1 with a great glove save in the first period. But the Predators finally beat the goalie by literally scoring off him. Fiala’s shot deflected off Smith’s back over the net and bounced off Khudobin’s back and in at 17:48 of the period.“That was the easiest goal I’ve scored,” Smith said. “We’re doing a lot of the right things. I thought we made some good plays. You’re going to have to make enough good plays to get good looks. I thought we did that. We got rewarded with an easy one.”The Stars tied it up twice in the third to set up the final game of the season series Feb. 19 in Dallas. Heiskanen tied it up at 3:05, and Fedun tied it at quicklyafter Arvidsson’s goal put Nashville up 2-1. In between, defenseman Roman Polak swept the puck away from the goal line after Colton Sissons‘ slap shot went off Khudobin’s stick.“We’re coming out and believing that we can win games, and we put ourselves in a really good situation tonight Mike Condon Jersey ,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. “We got a point and we got five out of six points in this rink against a really good hockey team.”NOTES: Nashville improved to 24-3-1 when scoring first. … Buffalo Beauts goalie Shannon Szabados was at the game ahead of the NWHL All-Star Game here Sunday. … Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer and football coach Jeremy Pruitt were at the game.UP NEXTStars: Visit Arizona on Saturday.Predators: Visit St. Louis on Saturday afternoon. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators took care of several issues Tuesday night at the expense of the Arizona Coyotes.None meant more than ending their power-play woes, if only for one night.Filip Forsberg ended an 0-for-34 power-play drought as part of Nashville’s three-goal second period, and the Predators beat the Coyotes 5-2 Tuesday night to snap a three-game skid at home.“We’ve been having a lot of good looks lately, but at the end of the day, it’s about scoring goals and we were fortunate to do that tonight,” Forsberg said. “I think we played well enough to have a couple more on the power play as well, but we will take one for tonight.”Roman Josi scored an empty-net goal with 2:50 left and had two assists, Ryan Ellis had a goal and an assist and Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok each had goals.Pekka Rinne made 24 saves as Nashville avoided being swept by Arizona this season, though the Coyotes did take the series 2-1.The Predators hadn’t scored on the man advantage since Jan. 9 in a win at Chicago and not at home since a loss to the Rangers on Dec. 29. They went 1 for 5 against Arizona.“We had a lot of looks and a lot of opportunities,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought that there could have been more than one . a couple of miscues on the shot Jaycob Megna Jersey Womens , a couple of big saves, a couple couldn’t find their way in. Fil made a terrific shot coming in on his.”Vinnie Hinostroza and Derek Stepan scored for Arizona, which finished a six-game swing with a fourth straight loss.The Coyotes played their second game in as many nights without eight regulars due to injuries, and Calvin Pickard started in his 100th career NHL game with goalie Darcy Kuemper day-to-day with an upper body injury and made 42 saves.(He) was by far our best player tonight and kept us in and gave us a chance,” Stepan said. “That’s all you ask from your goaltender. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the extra magic that we needed.”These teams hadn’t met since the end of November, and Nashville managed only a goal in the two losses to Arizona.The Coyotes’ luck appeared to continue as Pickard made a stop on Forsberg late in the first period with the puck bouncing off his head and over the net, then the Coyotes went the other way with Hinostroza beating Rinne with a wrister from the slot at 16:59.Arizona had a 5-on-3 for 41 seconds in the first minute of the second period after Nashville captain Roman Josi cleared the puck over the glass, hitting a child behind the penalty box. The child walked out on his own with his family a few minutes later, and Nashville killed the penalties. Then Smith scored his 15th goal this season and first in a month on a wrister off a rebound at 2:58, tying it up for Nashville.“The 5-on-3 has actually killed us the last couple of games Ryan Dzingel Jersey ,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said.The Predators, who came in with a lengthy scoring drought with the man advantage, failed to convert on their first two power plays to extend the skid to 0 of 34. Hinostroza went to the box for holding Predators forward Kevin Fiala, and Nashville finally converted. Josi found Forsberg, whose wrister from the top of the right circle beat Pickard’s glove at 7:45 for a 2-1 lead against what had been the NHL’s stingiest on the penalty kill.Then Ellis made it 3-1 at 13:37 of the period off a rebound as Nashville outshot the Coyotes 19-6 in the second.NOTES: Nashville improved to 9-16-3 when allowing the first goal this season and 6-12-2 when trailing after one. The Predators are 26-2-0 when leading after two periods … Arizona had only allowed 22 power-play goals this season, fewest in the NHL.UP NEXTCoyotes: Host Columbus on Thursday night.Predators: Host Dallas on Thursday night.