Fiala's goal in second helps Predators hand Sabres third straight loss

NASHVILLE -- Kevin Fiala broke a tie late in the second period to help the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Bridgestone Arena on Monday.

Pekka Rinne made 21 saves for Nashville (19-8-1), which has won its past two games and leads the Western Conference with 39 points.
"I felt that was probably one of the better defensive games all year," Rinne said. "That's a good hockey team. You could tell they played with confidence. They kept pushing in the third, but I think the only had like five shots or something like that.
WATCH: [All Sabres vs. Predators highlights]
"Guys did an extremely good job just staying with it. They have a lot of team speed, and their top couple lines there are pretty dangerous. I thought that we managed the game extremely well tonight."
Buffalo (17-8-3) has lost three in a row (0-2-1) after winning its previous 10 games. Sam Reinhart scored and Carter Hutton made 23 saves.
"They're a very good team, obviously," Sabres forward Patrik Berglund said. "But I think we played well today. I think we matched a lot of it; it's just we've got to find ways to create more chances and obviously put the puck in the net."
Ryan Ellis gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 16:25 of the first period with a one-timer on the power play. He received a pass from Roman Josi and beat Hutton on the glove side for his second goal of the season.

"I haven't been in that position much this year," Ellis said. "It's my favorite spot to be; hopefully I can get a couple more there. Overall, great puck movement by the guys coming in and a couple good heads-up plays. Shoot the puck, see what happens and it went in."
Reinhart tied the game 1-1 at 5:20 of the second period on a loose puck in the goal crease. It was his seventh goal of the season.

Fiala gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 16:34 of the second period on a wrist shot from the left face-off circle. It was his fifth goal of the season and his third in the past four games.
"Great win for us," Josi said. "I think, especially defensively, we played really well and [Rinne] was [Rinne] like always. But it's a huge win.
"That's a good team over there; they're playing really well this year. So it was great for us to get a team win like that."

They said it

"Maybe we got fancy a couple of times. But on the bench and all that, I think overall we stayed very positive. We stayed positive here in the locker room as well, so I think we're doing a lot of good things right now. We've just got to keep going and take a look at the bad areas and move on." -- Sabres forward Patrik Berglund
"We're trying to play the same way. I still think you need to be on the attack. You can't just sit back and defend. Again, the shots have been up. We've been outshooting and generating and chancing opponents as we play them here for the last eight to 10 games with a lot of key pieces out of the lineup. I just think it's important we stay with our identity. But we also understand that there's less room for error and we've got to make sure that we're sharp." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette

Need to know

Sabres forward Jack Eichel had six shots on goal. … The Predators held their opponent to no more than one goal for the ninth time this season. … Rinne is 9-3-1 in his past 13 starts.

What's next

Sabres: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN4, NHL.TV)
Predators: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-TN, NHL.TV)