Saturday, March 09, 2013
Sports News

Predators snap 3-game skid, beating Oilers 6-0

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[March 09, 2013]  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Colin Wilson had a career-high two goals and two assists, and the Nashville Predators beat the Edmonton Oilers 6-0 Friday night to snap a three-game skid.

Patric Hornqvist, David Legwand, Rich Clune and Zach Boychuk also had a goal apiece as the well-rested Predators won for the first time since Feb. 25, when they beat Dallas in overtime, by matching their season-high with six goals. Shea Weber had three assists in the first game against Edmonton this year.

Pekka Rinne made 24 saves for his fourth shutout this season.

The Oilers are 0-4-1 in their last five, the last two their first shutout losses this season. They were playing their second game in as many nights, and a roster with five players already missing was without forward Ales Hemsky. He had a puck go off his foot in Thursday night's 3-0 loss at Detroit.

Edmonton won the series last season 3-1, but Nashville now is 18-6-1 against the Oilers since 2006-07.

The Predators came in last in the NHL averaging 1.96 goals per game and had managed only one goal in losing three straight in California. But they took advantage of three days of rest since a 5-1 loss to Anaheim and used three new players: waiver wire pickups Bobby Butler and Boychuk, along with defenseman Victor Bartley, called up from Milwaukee in the AHL on Wednesday.

Nashville jumped on the Oilers from the start.

The Predators took nine of the first 10 shots and went up 1-0 after Oilers defenseman Nick Schultz went to the penalty box for slashing. Nashville coach Barry Trotz had been reminding his Predators to shoot more at the net, trying to give themselves more rebounds. Mike Fisher did just that, though his shot went just wide.

The puck bounced back toward Wilson near the post, and he knocked it toward Hornqvist. His wrister appeared to go off goalie Devan Dubnyk into the net, giving Nashville its first power-play goal in four games. The Predators came in 1-of-14 with the man advantage over the previous six games.

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Nashville padded that lead with a lucky bounce late in the period. Legwand flipped the puck toward the goal from the other side of the red line. Dubnyk tried to glove the puck only to have it slip underneath his arm. It was Legwand's first goal since Feb. 16.

The Oilers yanked Dubnyk after the first period, and Yann Danis gave up a goal 51 seconds into the second. Clune scored the second goal of his career from in front. Boychuck, claimed Tuesday off waivers from Pittsburgh, deflected a shot by Weber past Danis for a 4-0 lead.

Nashville lost Hornqvist to an upper body injury in the second period. Oilers defenseman Theo Peckman boarded Hornqvist, who slumped over and skated to the bench before heading straight to the locker room.

Wilson scored his sixth goal by driving to the net and beating Danis with a backhander at the post early in the third period. He added his second of the night on a power play, a wrister from the left circle.

Edmonton had its best scoring chances short-handed when Ryan Jones, a former Predator, had a breakaway in each of the first two periods only to be stopped by Rinne.

NOTES: Nashville beat St. Louis 6-1 on Feb. 5. ... The Predators improved to 9-1-4 when scoring more than one goal. Nashville also is 9-0-5 when scoring first. ... Wilson now has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his last 17 games. He also became the 24th player in Nashville history and the team's 11th draft pick to score 100 points and has 103 in his career. He has had three two-goal games in his career, two this season. ... Nashville had its 24th straight sellout dating back to last season. ... The Oilers have been outshot in 16 of 24 games.

[Associated Press; By TERESA M. WALKER]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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