O'Reilly, Marchessault each has 4 points, Predators top Sabres to end skid at 6

NASHVILLE -- Ryan O'Reilly had four assists and Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and three assists for the Nashville Predators in a 6-4 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Filip Forsberg and Brady Skjei each scored twice for the Predators (19-28-7), who ended a six-game losing streak in their final game before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20. Justus Annunen made 25 saves.

“I don’t think this year I’ve been contributing offensively the way I’ve wanted to,” O’Reilly said. “So it’s always nice when you get on the board like that and have some confidence going into the break.”

Alex Tuch had a goal and two assists for the Sabres (22-27-5), whose four-game winning streak ended. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who will play for Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, made 17 saves.

“You can’t have a really good couple of shifts and then let them back in it with a good shift or an opportunity,” Tuch said. “I started off by having a bad turnover in the [offensive] zone. The puck got away from me a little bit, and that can’t happen. I’ve got to bear down and make sure that doesn’t happen. That ended up being a 2-on-1 and resulting in a goal, and I thought that’s kind of the way it was.”

Forsberg, who will play for Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, gave the Predators a 5-3 lead at 6:58 of the third period on a one-timer from the left circle on a pass from O’Reilly.

“Gutsy,” Forsberg said. “I thought it wasn’t our best game overall, but we found a way to compete all the way through 60. We got really good goaltending when we needed it. Guys were sacrificing, blocking shots. You see that one at the end with [Predators defenseman Nick Blankenburg], it’s unbelievable. That’s what it took, and we were able to do that tonight.”

Dylan Cozens scored to bring the Sabres within 5-4 at 12:30 on a wrist shot from the left circle on the power play.

Sabres forward Zach Benson appeared to tie the game at 5-5 at 12:44 of the third, but the Predators successfully challenged for offside.

“I think live, you knew it right away,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said of his decision to challenge. “Although you never really know it. And then [Predators video coach Lawrence Feloney] and [Predators video coordinator Andrew Meloche] back there, obviously we trust them tremendously. They kind of let us know pretty much right away. It was one of the easier ones we’ve had to do.”

Marchessault scored an empty-net goal at 19:24 for the 6-4 final.

Tommy Novak gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 6:57 of the first period on a wrist shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush.

“I thought on four of the goals we handed them easy offense,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We had a lot of good looks. I thought our top line had a tough night.”

Skjei gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 9:26 on a tic-tac-toe passing play from Marchessault and O’Reilly.

Bowen Byram scored for the Sabres to make it 2-1 at 15:21 on a one-timer on a cross-ice pass from Jason Zucker.

“I thought we created quite a bit and definitely had a chance to win the game,” said Byram, who also had an assist. “A couple turnovers or missed coverages that ended up costing us.”

Rasmus Dahlin, who will represent Sweden in the 4 Nations Face-Off, scored for Buffalo to tie the game 2-2 at 18:25 on a wrist shot from the left circle. Dahlin also had an assist.

“I thought that might have been [Dahlin’s] best game, along with [Byram] too,” Ruff said. “I mean [Dahlin] I thought was just dominant every shift.”

Forsberg gave the Predators a 3-2 lead at 14:31 of the second period on a rebound on the power play.

Skjei gave the Predators a 4-2 lead at 15:13 on a wrist shot from the slot on a pass from O’Reilly.

Tuch made it 4-3 at 17:43 on a wrist shot from the left circle.

NOTES: Sabres forward Tage Thompson returned to the lineup after missing one game because of a concussion. He had with three shots on goal, 11 shot attempts and was minus-4 in 18:59 of ice time. … Forsberg finished with three shots on goal and eight shot attempts in 18:08.