Arvidsson powers Predators past Islanders

NEW YORK -- Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals to help the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Saturday.

WATCH: [All Predators vs. Islanders highlights]
Mattias Ekholm and Craig Smith also scored, and P.K. Subban had two assists for Nashville, which has started the season with consecutive wins. Juuse Saros made 26 saves in his season debut.
"They were fast and competitive right from the start," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "It turned out to be a good hockey game. I thought we did a good job just coming off of that first one (a 3-2 win at the New York Rangers on Thursday). It's never easy on the home openers. We had to come in and face two of them, so it was good to get out of here with the four points and go home."
Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, Valtteri Filppula and Anders Lee scored, and Josh Bailey had two assists for New York. Thomas Greiss made 19 saves.
"If we play like that most nights, we're going to be fine," Lee said. "Anytime you come in here with a loss, no matter what, it doesn't feel good."
Arvidsson gave the Predators a 1-0 lead 3:42 into the first period when he put the puck through his legs and went around Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock in the left face-off circle and beat Greiss five-hole.

"It's just something I try to work on a little bit," Arvidsson said. "Sometimes you can do it and sometimes now I feel comfortable doing it. It's nothing I really work on, it just came to me."
Barzal tied it 1-1 at 12:01. Bailey stripped Subban of the puck behind the net and fed Barzal in front for a one-timer. The goal was awarded after a video review.

"[Bailey] just made a great play off the wall there," Barzal said. "He won his battle. He's a heads-up player and I was trying to get open. He made a great play to me."
Ekholm restored the Predators' lead when his wrist shot from the left face-off circle beat Greiss to make it 2-1 at 16:56.
"It was just a weird knuckle-puck," Greiss said.
Filppula tied it 2-2 at 2:46 of the second period when he jammed in Tanner Fritz's redirection of Luca Sbisa's shot from the point. Smith gave the Predators a 3-2 lead when he took a pass from Kyle Turris and scored with a wrist shot from the slot at 13:30.
Arvidsson made it 4-2 with his second goal of the game at 16:42 of the second period. Ryan Johansen drove down the right wing, eluded Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey and fed Arvidsson in front for a one-timer.

"He was good," Laviolette said of Arvidsson. "I thought the whole line was good. [Filip Forsberg] was strong, [Johansen] was really strong. They made some nice plays. They were strong offensively out there tonight."
Lee scored his first goal of the season on the power play at 19:31 when he redirected Bailey's feed to make it 4-3.

Saros preserved the one-goal lead when he saved Jordan Eberle's shot from the slot with 4:19 remaining in the third period.
"I thought we had some pretty good stretches there," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "Our overall game, I thought we were pretty good. That's a pretty good team over there."

They said it

"That's how you want to start, right? I think we did a lot of good things. It was a good test being on the road; we got together in different ways than we had been in the last couple of weeks. It was good to get to know our team and it was a good start." -- Predators forward Craig Smith
"That's a heck of a team over there, if not the best D core in the League. Their forwards are great. I thought we did a pretty good job of limiting their chances. The ones we gave them, they capitalized. It's no fault on [Greiss] at all. When you've got skilled players, they're going to score goals. I thought it was a pretty good game. I thought we could've gotten a point, for sure." -- Islanders forward Mathew Barzal

Need to know

The Predators were 0-1 on the power play. The Islanders, who had the worst penalty kill in the NHL last season (73.2 percent), are 4-4 through two games. … Islanders forward Brock Nelson played in his 400th NHL game.

What's next

Predators:Host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, SNF, NHL.TV)
Islanders: Host the San Jose Sharks on Monday (1 p.m. ET; SN360, SN1, MSG+, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)