Predators defeat Penguins, tie for Central Division lead

PITTSBURGH -- The Nashville Predators moved into a tie for first place in the Central Division with a 3-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.

The Predators (44-28-6) are tied with the Winnipeg Jets and are four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who lost 4-2 at the New York Rangers on Friday. Nashville has played one more game than Winnipeg.
"I thought we started really well," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "We were really good 5-on-5. I thought special teams did a really good job, just in the sense that we were able to keep them off the board on the power play. ... I thought 5-on-5 we were pretty good. It was a good hockey game."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Penguins highlights]
The Penguins (42-25-11) are third in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind the Washington Capitals and two points behind the New York Islanders. Pittsburgh is four points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, and five points ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the second wild card.

Matt Murray made 23 saves for Pittsburgh, which had its three-game winning streak end. It has lost its past three home games.
"I thought we battled hard," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We had a lot of quality scoring chances, especially in the first period. I thought we had some really good chances in the first period. ... Usually when we get those kind of looks we score. We come out after those first 20 minutes down a goal, but that's the game. You can't always control whether it goes in the net."
Craig Smith and P.K. Subban each had a goal and an assist, Viktor Arvidsson scored his 100th NHL goal, and Pekka Rinne made 42 saves for the Predators, who are 5-1-1 in their past seven games after losing four of their previous six.
Smith gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 1:35 of the first period. With his back to the play, Smith deflected a shot from Matt Irwin blocker side for his 20th goal of the season.
Arvidsson made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 17:36 of the second period. He took a snap shot through Penguins defenseman Erik Gudbranson's legs glove side from the left face-off circle for his 32nd goal of the season, which set an NHL career high.

"I think we started really good in the first eight to 10 minutes and it's a hard building to come play," Arvidsson said. "They're confident here. They've won a lot in here, so I think we played them well. They're a good team. They're going to get chances, but I think we played a great game."
The Predators scored on one of two power plays after going 0-for-10 in their previous six games. The Penguins were 0-for-4 on the power play with 15 shots.
Subban scored on a slap shot, making it 3-0 with 2:32 remaining in the third period before Nick Bjugstad made it 3-1 with 1:03 left.

They said it

"[The Penguins are] obviously one of the top teams. It's a good game to have for us at this point of the season. There's only [four] games left before the playoffs. I feel like every game from now on is going to be like this. It's going to be very tight and playoff-like." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne

"I think we did some things to give ourselves a chance to win, but we didn't finish. Special teams ends up being a big difference. Got some power-play looks we didn't take advantage of, and then they take advantage on theirs, so it's tight hockey, especially against them this time of year. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that lead. Maybe things are different if we score in that first period and open it up a bit." -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby

Need to know

Rinne won for the first time in Pittsburgh. Including the playoffs, he was 0-6-0 with a 5.15 goals-against average and .822 save percentage entering Friday. ... Rinne made 22 saves in the first period, which tied his NHL career high. He also made 22 saves in the second period of a 5-2 win against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 23, 2016. ... Smith scored 20 goals for the fifth time, which tied Filip Forsberg for the most 20-goal seasons in Predators history. ... Predators goalie Juuse Saros was scratched because of an undisclosed illness. Troy Grosenick backed up Rinne after being recalled from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions Friday. ... Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta returned from missing 21 games with an upper-body injury. He had five shots and three hits in 15:47. ... Penguins forward Jake Guentzel played his 200th NHL game. He has 153 points (76 goals, 77 assists) in those 200 games.

What's next

Predators:Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-TN, FS-O, NHL.TV)
Penguins: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (5 p.m. ET; NHLN, ATTSN-PT, FS-CR, NHL.TV)