Brian Boyle scored the decisive goal in the fourth round of a shootout as the host Nashville Predators skated to a 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Nashville failed to convert a power-play opportunity early in overtime, then saw Kyle Turris' shootout bid carom off the crossbar and defenseman Ryan Ellis hit the post on the team's first two chances in the skills competition.
Nashville's Filip Forsberg and Edmonton's Sam Gagner each converted in the third round. Boyle's wrist shot sailed inside the post before Predators goalie Pekka Rinne closed his pads on a Ty Rattie attempt to preserve the win.
Defenseman P.K. Subban collected a goal and an assist to reach the 400-point plateau in his career for the Predators, who have won three of their past four games. Nashville moved ahead of idle Winnipeg into first place in the Central Division.
Predators center Colton Sissons also scored, and Rinne finished with 25 saves to improve to 21-6-1 in his career against the Oilers.
The victory capped a big day for Nashville, which made a splash prior to the NHL's trade deadline by acquiring rugged Wayne Simmonds from Philadelphia for fellow forward Ryan Hartman and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Predators also acquired Mikael Granlund from Minnesota for fellow forward Kevin Fiala.
Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl scored shorthanded and power-play goals to extend his point streak to seven games. Mikko Koskinen turned aside 36 shots for the Oilers, who saw their modest two-game winning streak end in the opener of their season-high, five-game road trip.
Alex Chiasson's third-period blast from the point was denied by Rinne, but Draisaitl backhanded the loose puck just inside the left post to notch his team-leading 38th goal and forge a 2-2 tie at 9:12.
Draisaitl opened the scoring just 2:08 into the first period. He intercepted Turris' intended pass for Forsberg in the neutral zone and skated up the left wing before backhanding the puck between Rinne's pads.
In the second period, Rocco Grimaldi breezed up the right wing and unleashed a shot that produced a juicy rebound by Koskinen. Sissons wired the puck into the open net to knot the contest 1-1 at 11:43.
The deadlock didn't last long. Nick Bonino beat Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a loose puck along the right-wing boards, then promptly fed Subban, whose blast from the point sailed over Koskinen's glove at 13:07.
--Field Level Media
Edmonton | Nashville | |
Leon Draisaitl 2 | Points | P.K. Subban 2 |
Leon Draisaitl 2 | Goals | P.K. Subban 1 |
Alex Chiasson 1 | Assists | P.K. Subban 1 |
Leon Draisaitl 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
Leon Draisaitl 1 | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Mikko Koskinen .947 | Save Percentage | Pekka Rinne .926 |
Mikko Koskinen 36 | Saves | Pekka Rinne 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Edmonton | 27 | 2 | 1-3 | 5-5 | 10 | 28 |
Nashville | 38 | 3 | 0-5 | 2-3 | 6 | 29 |