Stamkos gets 3 points, Predators edge Mammoth

SALT LAKE CITY -- Steven Stamkos scored twice in the third period to help the Nashville Predators defeat the Utah Mammoth, 4-3 at Delta Center on Monday.

Stamkos tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 11:39 of the third when he finished a pass from Ryan O'Reilly with a wrist shot from the slot past Vitek Vanecek's blocker. He then put Nashville up 4-3 at 13:17, snapping a shot through Vanecek's pads off O'Reilly's pass from below the goal line.

“Both of them were great feeds from [O’Reilly],” Stamkos said. “First one, power play, kind of found myself in an unfamiliar spot, but wide open in the slot and tried to get one off quick and did. The fourth one was just a pretty standard dump and chase. [O’Reilly] winning a stick battle, which he does so often, and then me just trying to find a quiet area, heck of a pass. It landed right on my tape and just tried to get it off as quick as possible and hit the five-hole and obviously a big goal for our group.”

Stamkos also had an assist, and Roman Josi and Luke Evangelista scored for the Predators (17-17-4), who have won four of their past five games. O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg each had two assists, and Juuse Saros made 28 saves.

“It was a gutsy win,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought Saros was outstanding and then Stamkos got a couple of huge goals for us in the third period. We've been on the wrong end of some of these this year. It was nice to be on the right end.”

JJ Peterka, Mikhail Sergachev, and Dylan Guenther scored for the Mammoth (18-19-3), who have lost three of their last four. Vanecek made 22 saves.

“A tough, tough result. Frustrating,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “We played really well for the long stretch of the game at five-on-five, on our power play, even on our PK. Five-on-five, I think we did a really good job defensively, but we need to find a way in key situations and key moments and when push comes to shove, to be better.”

Peterka gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead on the power play at 5:48 of the first period when he finished a cross-slot pass from Guenther in tight.

Josi tied it 1-1 at 9:51 with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle that beat Vanecek through traffic.

Sergachev put Utah back in front 2-1 at 3:41 of the second period. Nick Schmaltz fed a pass to Sergachev at the blue line, where he one-timed the puck over the glove of Saros.

“Obviously, I thought we played better for most of the game,” Sergachev said. “We were sloppy on the PK, and the last goal there cost us the game I think. We’ve got to be more focused in those crucial moments in the game."

Evangelista evened it 2-2 at 7:51 when he chipped a rebound off a Tyson Jost shot under Vanecek's blocker as he drove to the net.

The Mammoth went up 3-2 at 4:02 of the third period when Guenther settled a bouncing puck in the slot off a feed from Lawson Crouse and slid a backhander around Saros' right pad.

Despite being one goal shy of becoming the 22nd player in NHL history to reach 600, Stamkos is keeping his focus on picking up as many points as possible on the Predators' current seven-game road trip (2-1-0).

“This is the time of the year that can really either propel your season or sink in a hole that is tough to get out of,” he said. “The way the schedule is right now, being on the road for this many games, we need to collect as many points as possible.”

NOTES: Stamkos scored his sixth game-winning goal since Dec. 1 and tied the NHL mark for most in a month shared by Johan Franzen (March 2008), Brian Propp (Oct. 1982), Mike Bossy (March 1982), Bernie Geoffrion (Dec. 1960) and Jean Beliveau (Jan. 1960). ... Stamkos also scored his 98th career game-winning goal to tie Bobby Hull and Guy Lafleur for 11th place on the NHL’s all-time list. ... Vanecek played in his 200th NHL game. He became the 10th Czech goalie in NHL history and the fourth active Czech netminder to reach the milestone.