Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers top Predators in shootout

NASHVILLE -- Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves in his second straight start, and Jimmy Vesey and Mats Zuccarello scored in the shootout to help the New York Rangers to a 2-1 win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.
Rick Nash scored for the Rangers (22-10-1), who have won five of their past six games.
After watching Antti Raanta start four straight games, Lundqvist has stopped 58 of 59 shots in back-to-back starts. The two have allowed four goals on 148 shots over the six-game span.

WATCH: All Rangers vs. Predators highlights
"We rely on our system, on each other out there," Lundqvist said. "There's going to be breakdowns, but we try to cover up for one another and we try to make big plays at the right time."
Mike Fisher scored and Jusse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville (13-12-5).
Vesey played against the Predators for the first time in his career. He was drafted by the Predators in the 2012 NHL Draft but elected for free agency and signed with the Rangers on Aug. 19. Vesey said the shootout goal felt good after battling through external distractions.
"Just tried to keep it simple tonight and not let the external distractions bother me," Vesey said. "The first period was kind of just me trying to get myself into the game mentally and blocking that stuff out. It definitely felt good to score in the shootout."

Nash gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:47 of the first period on a wrist shot from below the left faceoff circle. Nash sped past Predators defenseman Petter Granberg and beat Saros with the shot for his eighth goal.
Fisher tied the game 1-1 at 9:22 of the second period on a wrist shot. Predators forward Colin Wilson was standing in front of the net, and Fisher's shot got through traffic and beat Lundqvist for his ninth goal. Fisher has four goals in his past three games.
"I didn't think we played very well in the first period," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought we got a lot better in the second half of the game, but the first period, for me, we turned the puck over too many times at their blue line. They've got such good speed and good transition, we knew we couldn't do that."
Predators defenseman P.K. Subban missed the game because of an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.

Goal of the game

Nash's goal gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first period on a shot where he didn't have much room. Nash got around Granberg in the neutral zone and tucked the puck under the crossbar on Saros' blocker side.

Save of the game

Lundqvist made a save on Predators forward Ryan Johansen in the third period to keep the game tied 1-1. Johansen corralled a turnover in the offensive zone and took a wrist shot on the rush, but Lundqvist made a glove save.

Unsung performance of the game

Rangers center Oscar Lindberg won four of seven faceoffs, had six hits and two takeaways in 14:13 of ice time.

Highlight of the game

Vesey's shootout goal was a backhand-to-forehand move that beat Saros on the blocker side. He came in wide and then cut to the slot before making the backhand-to-forehand move.

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They said it

"Our goaltender really stepped up in that third period. I liked our first two periods, but in the third you've got to give credit to our goaltender. At the end of the night, it's about finding ways to win and we found a win to win tonight. We weren't at our sharpest maybe for 60 minutes, but we got two points that are real important and we'll take it." -- Rangers coach Alain Vigneault

Need to know

The Rangers have allowed two goals or fewer in six consecutive games. … The Predators went 0-for-2 in the shootout against the Rangers and are 0-for-7 in the shootout this season.

What's next

Rangers: Host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; MSG, MSG+ 2, NHL.TV)
Predators: At the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, FS-TN, CSN-PH, NHL.TV)