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 But, despite the Oilers goalie's careful preparations, Neal beat
him three times -- including two wrist shots that went over his
shoulder. The Predators left winger's hat trick propelled the Preds
to a 3-2 victory.
Neal's third goal, a wicked wrist shot at 4:17 of the third period,
broke a 2-2 tie.
"I knew that Neal was a shooter and that was something I was
prepared for," said Brossoit, who made only his fourth career NHL
start. "And the mistake that I made, I should have been further out
and challenging him on the first one. And, on the last one, I
thought I had everything covered. But ... I got casual, and didn't
track the puck."
It was Neal's sixth career hat trick. He now has 26 goals on the
season, and the surging Predators have earned at least a point in 15
of their last 16 games. The Preds are now comfortably holding down a
playoff spot in the Western Conference, nine points ahead of the
Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche, who are tied for the final
wild-card spot.
Calle Jarnkrok got assists on two of Neal's three goals.
 The Oilers pulled Brossoit with just a little over two minutes left
in the third. Preds defenseman Shea Weber was sent to the box for a
cross-check with 12.4 seconds left. But Predators goalie Pekka
Rinne, who faced 29 shots on the night, shut the door.
The Oilers jumped into the lead at 6:48 of the first. Rookie
sensation Connor McDavid faked a shot and then slid a hard pass to
linemate Jordan Eberle, who only needed to redirect the puck into an
open net. The goal came on Edmonton's first shot of the game.
The advantage was short-lived. At 8:04, Neal got behind the Oilers
defense and slid the puck through the legs of Brossoit.
Neal said it was vital that the Predators came back so quickly after
the home team scored.
"Any time a team scores and the other teas comes back and gets one,
it deflates you a little bit. You get that surge of momentum when
you score and then the other team buries one -- it takes you down a
little bit. So that felt good to get that one."
The teams traded goals in quick succession to start the second
period. Oilers right winger Iiro Pakarinen scored at the 31-second
mark, and 20 seconds later, Neal got his second of the game when his
wrist shot fooled Brossoit, who was partially screened on the play.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan said his rookie goalie will need to
adjust to the top shooters in the league.
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"LB is taking his first kick through the league and you have
Ovechkin, Neal, Seguin, Couture -- guys who can really release the
puck. He's got to figure that out. They will shoot from anywhere and
they will shoot it awful quick. He'll get better."
Just as they did in the first, the Predators answered the Oilers
go-ahead goal with a goal of their own. And Predators coach Peter
Laviolette was pleased by those responses.
"It was big to kill the momentum, especially the second time to come
out and start the period like that to come right back and even it
up. That was really big for us tonight I thought."
Despite allowing the early goal, Rinne was outstanding for the
remainder of the second, robbing Nail Yakupov and Taylor Hall with
reflex saves, then shutting the door when Zack Kassian came in on a
breakaway.
"It was good to pull out a big win, because points are so crucial at
this point in the season, you have to play good hockey," said Neal.
The Predators wrapped up a five-game road trip.
"When you look back, we got seven points out of a possible 10, so
we're happy with that. It was a big win for us," said Rinne.
NOTES: The Oilers signed LW Jere Sallinen, a 2009 draft pick of the
Minnesota Wild, to an entry-level deal. The 25-year-old Finn posted
19 points for Jokerit of the Kontinental Hockey League this season.
... The game was officially a sellout, but tickets in the upper deck
were available on resale site StubHub for less than $9 apiece Monday
morning. ... Oilers D Darnell Nurse missed his third consecutive
game due to a suspension. He is set to return to the lineup
Wednesday. ... In the teams' previous two encounters this season,
the Oilers scored a total of one goal vs. Nashville. ... Oilers D
Adam Pardy missed his second game in a row due to an undisclosed
injury. D Brandon Davidson missed his fourth consecutive game with
an undisclosed injury. ... The Oilers scratched C Anton Lander and
LW Luke Gazdic. ... The Predators scratched D Petter Granberg, and C
Paul Gaustad was out with an upper-body injury.
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