Forsberg scores lacrosse-style goal in Predators loss to Oilers

EDMONTON -- Filip Forsberg scored a lacrosse-style goal for the Nashville Predators, but they lost to the Edmonton Oilers 4-2 at Rogers Place on Tuesday.

"It was great, at the time it was a big goal," Forsberg said. "They were obviously up and it tied the game (1-1). It's something that I've tried a couple of times. It's cool that it went in, and it would have been a lot better if we would have won."
Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist, Connor McDavid had three assists, and Mike Smith made 30 saves for Edmonton (25-18-5), which is 6-3-1 in its past 10 games.
"I thought it was a solid win for us," Draisaitl said. "Just like any other team in this league, they have a lot of skill, so they're going to have their good] shifts as well. We defended well and we didn't really give them too much."
***[WATCH: [All Predators vs. Oilers highlights]*
Pekka Rinne made 28 saves for Nashville (21-17-7), which had a seven-game winning streak in Edmonton end.
Forsberg tied it 1-1 at 10:42, picking up the puck with his stick behind the net and wrapping a shot that deflected in off Smith's chest.
"They had a winger on the wall, which teams usually don't, and he took off after the draw, so it left a lot of room and I just tried to get it up and off quick and it worked," Forsberg said. "… A lot of players are trying things, and McDavid might be the one leading the charge just the way he plays the game. I think it's great; it's not like you're doing it for the show, you're trying to score the goal and it worked."
Forsberg scored the third goal of that type in the NHL this season, after two by Carolina Hurricanes forward Andrei Svechnikov.
"I thought I played it pretty well; he got lucky," Smith said. "I mean, I saw him pick the puck up and it hit my glove, then my body. I need to eat a couple more hamburgers, I guess, so I get a little more fat there.
"It's fun to watch when it's not you in net, but when it ends up being you, you feel like more of an idiot. But while we're all talking about that goal, in the end, it doesn't matter. We came out on top."

Josh Archibald scored off a cross-crease pass from McDavid at 9:09 of the second period to make it 3-2.
"Connor makes the game easy for guys, I mean that pass he gave me I just had to find the back of the net," Archibald said. "I'm used to playing with [Riley] Sheahan where we're a grind line [that] works pucks down low, where Connor likes to carry the pucks in. When you score with Connor, it's one of those things you can check off the list."
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead at 9:01 of the first period. Draisaitl had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (five goals, seven assists). Colin Blackwell gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 15:41, redirecting a centering pass from Nick Bonino.
"It was a pretty even game, we capitalized on a couple chances," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "We had some good chances in the third to push it along. We had a good practice [Monday], but you could tell the guys were chugging a little bit, that first practice home after a long road trip. But I thought we went out and played with energy tonight and we got the two points."
Draisaitl tied it 2-2 on the power play on a rebound at 19:42. He scored into an empty net on a power play with 49 seconds remaining in the third period for the 4-2 final.
"We knew coming into the game special teams were going to be pretty important," Predators coach John Hynes said. "That's something we have to continue to work on here in our short time together. They got one [power-play goal] and then they got one with the empty net, and that was a key that we have to do a better job in. We showed some good signs and some good things, but we had some inconsistencies in our play."

They said it

"I've tried it and had a couple of close tries over the last couple of seasons, and I don't know where it comes from at the start, but I'm guessing it was me and my brother playing street hockey, and I'm sure he tried it and I wanted to try it too." -- Predators forward Filip Forsberg
"It was sick, it was unbelievable. It was one of the nicest goals I've seen live. It's just unbelievable individual skill, and [that] he pulls that out in a game is so impressive." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne
"I thought as the game went on we started to simplify things a little bit. It was a good game all around for us. That's a good team over there so we're definitely happy to get those two points." -- Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

Need to know

Rinne had a 12-game winning streak against the Oilers. He had not lost to them since March 18, 2014 (5-1 in Edmonton). … Hynes' record with the Predators fell to 2-2-0. … McDavid has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a five-game point streak. … Smith is 4-0-1 in his past five starts.

What's next

Predators: Host the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, PRIME, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)