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 Cullen scored his first of the season with 6:13 remaining in
regulation with a wrist shot that beat Stars goaltender Kari
Lehtonen to his short side. Fellow center Derek Roy, who had two
assists for Nashville, started the play by digging the puck out from
behind the Dallas goal.
Cullen then quickly finished as it appeared Lehtonen was screened by
Dallas defenseman Trevor Daley on the goal.
Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 33 shots for Nashville,
which is now 4-2-1 on the road.
"Well, he made some big saves," Predators coach Peter Laviolette
said of Rinne. "They came out charging. Even when we took the lead,
there was a couple saves that were just huge at the end. He had a
terrific game, tremendous."
Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm had two assists.
Dallas, which is 1-2-4 at home, saw their winless streak run to six
games.
"We didn't win. Nobody's happy with what's going on," Stars coach
Lindy Ruff said.
 Nashville, who is now 3-2-0 with one game remaining on their
six-game road trip, built a 2-0 lead off power-play goals from
center Craig Smith and center Filip Forsberg in the second period.
"Yeah, it's huge," Rinne said of getting two power-play goals. "Just
two big goals, we've been working on it a lot, haven't got the
results. In a game like that with your division rival, two big goals
like that, it's a big confidence boost for the PP guys."
The Stars, who last won Oct. 21 against the Vancouver Canucks, cut
it to 2-1 late in the second when Daley scored after going
coast-to-coast. Dallas then tied it at 7:23 of the third when right
winger Patrick Eaves scored off a rebound.
Smith's goal into the second came after one-timing a pass from Roy
from the right circle over Lehtonen's glove to make it 1-0. Lehtonen
was screened on the play by Nashville center Colin Wilson.
The Predators were on the power play after Dallas center Ryan
Garbutt was called for a slash on Nashville left winger James Neal.
Nashville then took a 2-0 lead at 13:57 of the second period, again
converting on the power play when Forsberg beat Lehtonen short side
with a wrister from the left circle. Again, Lehtonen was screened,
this time by Predators center Mike Ribeiro, a former teammate of
Lehtonen's in Dallas.
Dallas defenseman Sergei Gonchar high-sticked Wilson at 12:27 of the
second to put Nashville on the power play.
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However, the Stars cut that lead in half when Daley flicked a
wrister just under Rinne's glove with 3:34 left in the second
period.
Daley gained possession inside the Dallas zone and raced up the
middle of the ice, getting his shot off in heavy traffic, a rather
soft goal that Rinne would definitely like to have back.
The Stars then made it 2-2 when Eaves poked in a rebound 7:23 into
the third period. Daley started the sequence with a hard shot that
missed the Nashville goal but deflected off the boards and landed in
front of the goal.
"I liked our response after that," Laviolette said. "We circled it
back and got back in their end and started forechecking and playing
down in the offensive zone again. After they scored, I think it was
important to go back down there and do that."
Dallas center Tyler Seguin tried to knock the free puck in but was
denied by Rinne. However, Eaves was there to collect the carom and
scored his second goal of the season.
Lehtonen stopped 30 shots for Dallas.
NOTES: Nashville LW Gabriel Bourque, LW Viktor Stalberg, currently
on a conditioning assignment to AHL Milwaukee, and D Anton
Volchenkov, currently suspended, were scratched. ... Dallas D Kevin
Connauton and C Cody Eakin were scratched. ... Four Predators: LW
James Neal, LW Eric Nystrom, who was appearing in his 500th career
game, C Mike Ribeiro and C Derek Roy, are each former Stars. ...
Dallas G Kari Lehtonen was making his fifth consecutive start. ...
Predators C Jalle Jarnkrok, a healthy scratch for Nashville's past
four games, returned to the ice and centered the Predators' third
line. ... Thursday marks Dallas' second game of their current
three-game homestand. ... The Predators are on a six-game road trip
due to the Country Music Academy awards being in Nashville on
Wednesday. ... Stars D Trevor Daley, the club's longest-tenured
player, skated in his 700th NHL game on Tuesday against Los Angeles.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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