Nashville Predators 4, Dallas Stars 2

by Mark Stepneski of Andrew's Stars Page

The Dallas Stars ended October the same way they started it, falling to the Nashville Predators. The Stars took a 2-1 lead into the third period, but the Predators scored three unanswered goals to rally for a 4-2 at Sommet Center Saturday night.

"They came out with a lot of sustained pressure, and they scored three hardworking goals," said Stars goalie Alex Auld, who stopped 29 of 33 shots on the night. "I would have liked to come up with some saves to hold the team in it, but I wasn't able to do that tonight."

The regulation road loss was the first of the season for the Stars, who are 4-1-3 away from home, and they also lost for first time in six games (5-1-0) when leading after two periods.

The two teams traded power play goals in the first period with Steve Ott, back from his suspension, scoring for the Stars and Shea Weber scoring for Nashville. Brian Sutherby gave the Stars a 2-1 lead in the second period.

The Stars had a big opportunity to extend the lead late in the second, but couldn't take advantage of a 49 second five-on-three power play.

"That was probably the turning point of the game," said Stars head coach Marc Crawford.

"It's some we definitely need to be scoring on," said Ott. "They are definitely momentum changers."

The momentum began to shift in the third when Steve Sullivan scored early in the third period, beating a screened Auld from the right circle.

"You could just see the bench perk up," said Nashville defenseman Kevin Klein.

The Stars, playing their third game in four nights and coming off an overtime/shootout contest the night before, seemed to be losing some of their zip.

Midway through the period, Nashville stepped up the pressure and had the Stars pinned down in their own end. Alex Auld came up with some great saves, including a spectacular one on J.P. Dumont, but Patric Hornqvist scored off a mad scramble in front of the net to give Nashville a 3-2 lead with 9:01 left. Just 43 seconds later, Klein scored from the right point to make a 4-2 game.

Nashville won its third straight game and for the fourth time in the last five games, pushing its record back to .500 on the season (6-6-1).

"Right now we’re playing some really good hockey and we all played together – it’s not only one guy or two guys it’s all the guys together," said Dumont. "It’s definitely a big win for us."

The Stars, who are now 6-3-5 on the season, don't play again until Wednesday, when they take on the Calgary Flames at the American Airlines Center.