The Dallas Stars scored first Saturday in Nashville. They did not score again. Between Miro Heiskanen's opener at 0:47 of the first and the final horn, the Predators needed only two power-play goals to flip a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win at Bridgestone Arena.
Special teams decided the night before the second period started. Steven Stamkos tied the game at 4:46 with Nashville on the power play. Nils Hoglander put the Predators ahead at 15:49, also on the man advantage, with his first goal since arriving from Vancouver. Dallas generated a third-period push and still never answered either strike, according to NHL.com's Kurt Dusterberg.
Lead lasts less than four minutes
Heiskanen's goal came off a scramble. Juuse Saros made a save in traffic, Mikko Rantanen moved the puck to Heiskanen in the right circle, and the defenseman beat Saros blocker side. For a team that had been shut out 4-0 at home Friday by St. Louis, the early strike looked like a reset.
It lasted until the first Dallas penalty. Ryan O'Reilly threaded a backhand through two Stars defenders, and Stamkos one-timed it from the left circle for his 625th NHL goal, tying Jerome Iginla and Joe Sakic for 17th on the all-time list. Stamkos told NHL.com Nashville had to take advantage of a team that played the night before and grinded Dallas down.
The second Predators power-play goal arrived later in the same period. Jack Ahcan, in his Nashville debut, fired from the left point. The puck deflected off Hoglander's left skate at the top of the crease and in. Ahcan's assist was his first point with the Predators. Alex Kerfoot also recorded his first point in Nashville on the play, NHL.com noted.
Two Dallas penalties. Two Nashville goals. Zero Dallas goals after 0:47. That is the special-teams ledger that decided Saturday.
