National Hockey League
Detroit 5, Nashville 3
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, October 21, 2016
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Referees: Dan O'Halloran, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Steve Miller
Attendance: 20027

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings are looking more and more like the team fans have become accustomed to watching over the years.

Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist to lead Detroit to a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators on Friday night at Joe Louis Arena.

It was the Red Wings third consecutive win after losing their first two games of the season.

"I think this was our best game of the season," said left winger Tomas Tatar, who broke a 2-2 tie early in the third period. "This happened to us before. When they scored we'd hold back. Now I think they scored the goal to make it 2-1 and we kept pushing. We tied it and then early on (in third) we scored another one."

Left wingers Justin Abdelkader and Drew Miller and center Darren Helm got the other goals for Detroit (3-2-0).

Goalie Petr Mrazek made 30 saves.

"I'm just worried about one game at a time and I'm worried about getting better every day and I thought we took a step in getting better today," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought we did a real good job of spending time in their end; we did a real good job of winning puck battles."

Defenseman P.K. Subban and centers Mike Ribeiro, Mike Fisher scored for Nashville (1-3-0), which lost its third straight.

Defenseman Roman Josi had two assists and goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 38 shots.

"I thought we played hard, especially with a short bench," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times. You can't make that many mistakes when you are trying to come from behind."

Several Nashville players are ill, including center Ryan Johansen and right winger Craig Smith, who had to leave the game.

Fisher's power-play goal with 4:46 pulled the Predators to within 4-3. He tipped in Josi's shot from the point. It was Fisher's third goal, all on the power play.

"I always thought we were going to come back, even without those guys, but we just made too many mistakes at the end of the game," Fisher said. "The puck was bouncing all over the place, and both teams took advantage of it. They were forechecking all over the ice.

"They are so fast that they pressured us into a lot of turnovers. We got chances too, but they moved the puck very well against us."

Helm scored an empty-net, power-play goal with 22 seconds left for his fourth goal of the season to account for the final score.

Tatar gave the Red Wings a 3-2 lead 1:10 into the third period with a wrist shot from high in the right circle. It was his first goal.

Nyquist made it 4-2, with 8:33 left, with his first goal. He scored on a breakaway after a turnover by Nashville's Filip Forsberg in the Predators zone.

Miller's goal tied the game 2-2 with 40 seconds left in the second period. He beat Rinne with a one-time slot from a bad angle deep in the left circle. It was Miller's second goal and second in two games.

Nashville took a 2-1 lead with power-play goals 18 seconds apart in the second.

With Tatar (interference) and defenseman Danny DeKeyser (delay of game) in the penalty box, Subban got his second goal of the season, which came on a one-time slap shot from the high slot with 5:47 left in the middle period.

That brought Tatar back but Ribeiro put in a rebound with 5:29 remaining in the period to give the Predators a 2-1 lead. It was Ribeiro's first goal.

Abdelkader's power-play goal gave Detroit a 1-0 lead, 5:17 into the second. The rebound of defenseman Ryan Sproul's shot from the point trickled in off of Abdelkader's backside.

Laviolette unsuccessfully challenged the goal after he thought Abdelkader interfered with Rinne.

NOTES: Detroit F Dylan Larkin moved from center, where he played the first four games of the season, to right wing, on a line centered by Frans Nielsen and LW Justin Abdelkader. Larkin is a natural center but played the wing in his rookie season of 2015-16. ... Nashville entered the game Friday with only two even-strength goals. Five of their goals this season had come on the power play. ... D Ryan Sproul made his season debut for the Red Wings. He replaced D Xavier Ouellet in the lineup. ... The Predators were without D Anthony Bitetto (upper body) and RW Miikka Salomaki (upper body).
Top Game Performances
 
Nashville   Detroit
Roman Josi 2 Points Gustav Nyquist 2
Mike Fisher 1 Goals Gustav Nyquist 1
Roman Josi 2 Assists Gustav Nyquist 1
Mike Fisher 1 Power Play Goals Justin Abdelkader 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Pekka Rinne .905 Save Percentage Petr Mrazek .909
Pekka Rinne 38 Saves Petr Mrazek 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Nashville 33 3 3-4 5-7 21 26
Detroit 43 5 2-7 1-4 15 26
Upcoming Games
  • Detroit will play their next game at home against San Jose. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .500 after a loss.
  • Nashville will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Predators have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .333 after a loss.