Predators end Stars' five-game winning streak on Johansen OT goal

NASHVILLE -- Ryan Johansen scored 43 seconds into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.

Viktor Arvidsson passed the puck to Johansen, who beat goalie Anton Khudobin from the slot.
"Great individual play there," Johansen said of Arvidsson. "We were kind of looping and swooping, waiting for some space. Even when he got it down in the corner, it was bobbling and he ended up making a good play and put it right in my wheelhouse, so it was good to finish it off."
WATCH: [All Stars vs. Predators highlights]
Dallas' five-game winning streak ended.
"I thought the last 10 [minutes] in the second, we started to generate a lot," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "We started skating more. We started penetrating the middle of the ice with and without the puck, and I thought that allowed us to possess pucks and create more chances."
The Predators have won five of their past six games.

Taylor Fedun scored for the Stars to tie it 2-2 at 9:46 of the third period on a shot from the point.
Arvidsson gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 8:41 of the third period. Johansen intercepted a pass and sent the puck to Filip Forsberg, who passed it to Arvidsson for his 22nd goal.
"It was a nice play," Arvidsson said. "They turned it over and [Forsberg] found me on the backdoor. I just put my stick there and it went in, so of course, nice. I think we went kind of cold for two periods, and we got going in the third."
Craig Smith got a fortuitous bounce to give the Predators a 1-0 lead at 17:48 of the first period. Kevin Fiala's shot from the left half-wall hit Smith in the back behind the net. The puck then went over the top of net and off Khudobin, who knocked it in with his glove.
"That was the easiest goal I've scored," Smith said. "I mean, we were doing a lot of the right things. I thought our line (with Fiala and center Nick Bonino), at certain times during the first, I thought we were backchecking hard. I thought we made some good plays. You're going to have to make enough good plays to get good looks, and I thought we did that. We got rewarded with an easy one."

Miro Heiskanen scored for the Stars to tie the game 1-1 at 4:05 of the third period on a rebound from the left face-off circle. Tyler Seguin took the initial shot, and Heiskanen scored his 10th goal on the rebound.
Forward Brian Boyle made his debut with the Predators, and forward Cody McLeod made his season debut with Nashville. Boyle was acquired Wednesday in a trade from the New Jersey Devils for a second-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, and McLeod, who played 54 games for the Predators in two seasons from 2017-2018, was acquired Wednesday in a trade from the New York Rangers for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
"It was great," Boyle said. "What a fun place to play. It was fun before, and this is a different level, really. This was a memorable one."
Nashville forward Kyle Turris returned to the lineup after missing 17 games because of a lower-body injury.

They said it

"We're coming out and believing that we can win games, and we put ourselves in a real good situation again tonight. We got a point and we got five out of six points in this rink against a real good hockey team." -- Stars coach Jim Montgomery on their maturity
"Ryan has been steady. He's been terrific. He's been a good leader in our room through it all. And he's kind of shined through in a year where we've been banged up and lost a lot of key personnel." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on center Ryan Johansen

Need to know

With his assist on Heiskanen's goal, Seguin extended his point streak to four games (four goals, two assists). … Boyle was minus-1 with two hits and won two of three face-offs in 14:00. McLeod had two hits in 6:54.

What's next

Stars:At the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-SW, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Predators:At the St. Louis Blues on Saturday (2 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)