Stars win fourth straight, top Predators in OT

NASHVILLE - Mattias Janmark's goal 3:49 into overtime gave the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Monday.
Forward Tyler Seguin took the original shot that was stopped by Predators goaltender Carter Hutton. Seguin was able to get the puck over to Janmark, who put it into an empty net for his 12th goal.

"We got a transition game there," Janmark said. "I think a couple of guys on their bench fell so we got a 3-on-1, and then I just tried to stick with it. Seguin made a good pass."
With the absence of Jason Spezza, who has been out the past five games with an upper-body injury, Janmark has been playing center. He has been productive, with three points in his past two games.
"It's my natural position," Janmark said. "I've been playing there a lot. I like playing with Spezza too, but of course when a guy like that is gone, a few guys have to step up, and you want to try and do that."

Dallas (37-15-5) won their fourth straight game and improved to 17-8-5 on the road.
"It was a [heck] of a hockey game," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I thought they had the edge in the first, and I thought we responded well in the second. I thought Hutton made some great saves. I thought we might be able to put them away or separate, but he came up with a couple of huge saves in the third. I thought defensively we really played a solid third and had some good opportunities."
Craig Smith gave the Predators (26-21-10) a 1-0 lead at 11:32 of the first period on a wrist shot from near the Stars goal. Defenseman Mattias Ekholm took the original shot from the point, and Stars goaltender Antti Niemi was unable to glove the puck cleanly. Smith scored on the rebound for his 12th goal.
"There was times where they did their thing out there," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "They've got a good hockey team. I thought there was plenty of times where our lines were in their end and generating and creating. It was good."

Stars forward Cody Eakin scored shorthanded to make it 1-1 at 5:42 of the second period on a one-timer. Forward Jamie Benn made the pass on the rush, and Eakin one-timed the puck past Hutton for his 11th goal. Eakin left the game on Saturday, a 4-3 win against the Washington Capitals, with an undisclosed injury.
"I felt better today," Eakin said. "A little bit looser and moving a little bit better and had my strength with me. It was good to feel that way."
Ales Hemsky gave the Stars a 2-1 lead at 6:59 of the second period. Hemsky got the puck around Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto and was able to lift the puck over Hutton for his seventh goal.

"They needed two points and we wanted to keep rolling," Ruff said. "I thought it was a heck of a hockey game. It was who was going to finish or which goalie was going to give in a little bit, and neither one wanted to give in. You've got to give Hutton a lot of credit because he stood tall there when we had some pressure on in the last 10 minutes."
Predators forward Filip Forsberg tied the game 2-2 at 16:18 of the second period on a one-timer from the slot. Smith chipped the puck behind the net, retrieved it and made the pass to Forsberg, who shot it past Niemi for his 19th goal.
"He's the type of player that can do that," Laviolette said. "He's playing the game fast, he's attacking the game. He's the type of guy that given the opportunity to find a little bit of space, he can find it. He's got shiftiness to his game, can attack off the rush. He's got a good shot."

Stars forward Antoine Roussel fought Predators captain Shea Weber in the second period, which impressed his teammates.
"It's definitely not [easy]," Eakin said. "[Roussel] is a hard-nosed player and went to the net, does what he did and Weber didn't really like that. [Roussel] stood up to the challenge and did real well against a guy that's got about 40 pounds on him."
Niemi made 24 saves; Hutton made 29 saves.
Dallas will play at the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday; Nashville will host the Boston Bruins on Thursday.