Watson's hat trick lifts Predators past Ducks

NASHVILLE --Austin Watson got his first NHL hat trick to help the Nashville Predators to a 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.

Nick Bonino had a goal and an assist, Colton Sissons and Roman Josi each had two assists, and Pekka Rinne made 17 saves for Nashville (17-6-1), which has won four of its past five games and is tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the NHL with 35 points.
"For as long as I've been here, we've done a good job of bouncing back after we've played games we didn't like," Watson said. "Tonight was no different. That's a good hockey team over there. They're always spirited, hard battles. We stuck to our game plan, we got on the attack and we were able to start our little homestand here off with a good win."
WATCH: [All Ducks vs. Predators highlights]
Adam Henrique and Ondrej Kase scored, and John Gibson made 28 saves for Anaheim (10-10-5), which has scored two goals or fewer in six of its past eight games.
"To me, it's about defense," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We can be criticized for lack of offense, but the reality is, we need to be able to hold the opposition to one goal or two goals. That's the reality of it. Where we're set up, the way we are with our group right now and the personnel that we have in place, we have to win the 1-0 game or the 2-1 game. Simple as that."
Watson gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 11:04 of the first period, getting the rebound off Bonino's initial shot in the crease and scoring at the left post.

"It's always nice to score goals and contribute," Watson said. "Hockey players, that's what we like doing. To get an opportunity to play with [Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg], two really gifted players, and then I was out there with [Bonino and Sissons], we've had some good success. It was a fun night."
Henrique tied it 1-1 at 2:38 of the second period on the power play. He received a pass in the slot from Rickard Rakell and beat a screened Rinne.
Bonino gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 5:38, receiving a pass from Sissons and beating Gibson glove side with a wrist shot from the left circle on a rush.

"That's the nice part of playing a lot of games in a short amount of time is you can wipe the slate clean and just go back to work," Bonino said. "I thought we anticipated the type of game it was going to be. We were ready for it, ready for that physicality."
Watson extended the lead to 3-1 at 18:36 on the power play, redirecting a point shot from Josi.
Kase cut it to 3-2 at 19:52, beating Rinne from in front following a turnover by Forsberg along the left wall.

Craig Smith gave Nashville a 4-2 lead at 2:52 of the third period on the power play. Forsberg took the initial shot, and Smith scored on the rebound in the slot.
Watson completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:54 to make it 5-2. It was his fourth goal of the season.
"That was really good to see that," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "Guys chipping in like Nick [Bonino]. He had a really strong game, and obviously [Watson] had a big part of it tonight as well. That's part of it. I said it this morning, and I said it sounded kind of cliché, but we need guys to fill those minutes and do a good job, and I thought everybody played pretty well."

They said it

"Well I think really the turning point in the game from our standpoint, it seemed like what we thought was kind of a possible kneeing penalty on [Predators defenseman Matt Irwin] on [Ducks forward Kalle Kossila] kind of turned the game around. From that point on, we took numerous penalties and it became kind of a game that we shouldn't have played." -- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle
"I think every time we have a couple of guys out, a new guy steps in and makes a difference. It's huge for our team. There's so much depth and so many guys stepping up right now and playing a lot more minutes and playing great." -- Predators captain Roman Josi

Need to know

Ducks defenseman Andrej Sustr had one hit and was minus-1 in 11:05 of ice time. He was recalled from San Diego of the American Hockey League on Sunday. … Watson is the fourth player for the Predators to get a hat trick this season, joining Forsberg, Sissons and Calle Jarnkrok.

What's next

Ducks:At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Predators:Host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, ALT2, NHL.TV)