Weber powers Predators past Stars

NASHVILLE -- Shea Weber had a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup to help the Nashville Predators to a 5-3 win against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
Weber missed the three previous games with a lower-body injury.
Pekka Rinne made 35 saves for Nashville (32-21-11), which has won five games in a row and has at least a point in 10 straight (7-0-3).

"Everyone knows it just matters if you get in the [Stanley Cup Playoffs]," Weber said. "Your confidence is going to be where it's at, and if you're able to get on a roll at whatever time in the playoffs if you're in, you have a chance to win. I think our goal is to keep playing well in preparation for each game and not taking any team lightly."

Weber scored on the power play to make it 3-1 at 9:17 of the second period. He one-timed a pass from defenseman Roman Josi past Stars goaltender Antti Niemi for his 16th goal.
"Obviously, with the way the guys were playing while I was out, I was a little nervous to come back and didn't want to be the reason that we lost the game," Weber said. "It was a big win. I thought the guys did a good job. That's a very good team over there, and they're able to score. Even at the end there when it's 5-3, you're still thinking in your head that they're a team that's capable of coming back. I think we did a good job of buckling down."
Dallas (38-20-7) has lost four in a row (0-3-1) and is 1-5-2 in its past eight games.
Craig Smith gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 12:38 of the first period on a wrist shot from the slot. Forward Mike Ribeiro passed from behind the net to Smith, who was able to shoot it through traffic past Niemi for his 15th goal.

"It's just collectively doing a lot of things the right way," Smith said. "We're running our systems perfect, and if not, I think our decisions on breakdowns have been really good. That's key in taking away chances."
Stars forward Antoine Roussel scored 10 seconds later to tie it 1-1. Roussel got around Predators defenseman Anthony Bitetto and slid the puck past Rinne for his 10th goal.
Calle Jarnkrok gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 1:35 of the second period on a redirection from in front of the Stars net. Forward James Neal lofted a pass toward the net that Jarnkrok tipped past Niemi for his 13th goal.
"It wasn't easy tonight," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "Dallas has a really good team. In the first period, they had a lot of attempts, a lot of scoring chances at our net. I thought we got better defensively as the game went on, and in the second period, we really did a good job of eliminating them and just playing smart."

Mattias Ekholm gave the Predators a 4-1 lead 31 seconds after Weber's power-play goal when he scored on a backhand shot from the right faceoff circle. It was his seventh goal.
Kari Lehtonen replaced Niemi following Ekholm's goal.
"We know [the goaltending] has got to be better," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "We're trying hard defensively to clean things up. I thought we played a great first period. Gave up a big rush chance at the start of the second, which I thought got them a little bit fired up."
Lehtonen made 15 saves on 16 shots after relieving Niemi, who allowed four goals on 18 shots.

After Jason Spezza scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 16:38 of the second to make it 4-2, Neal scored to make it 5-2 at 5:37 of the third period. Neal one-timed a pass from Weber past Lehtonen from the top of the right faceoff circle for his 22nd goal.
The Stars' Vernon Fiddler scored with 9:30 remaining to make it 5-3.
Dallas forward Patrick Sharp left the game late in the second period with an undisclosed injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Defenseman Kris Russell made his Stars debut after being traded from the Calgary Flames on Monday. He was paired with Jordie Benn.