Red Wings 3, Predators 0: Jimmy Howard turned aside all 22 shots he faced and captain Henrik Zetterberg scored to snap a 10-game goalless drought as visiting Detroit moved into eighth place in the Western Conference.
Johan Franzen and Justin Abdelkader also netted their respective ninth goals and Pavel Datsyuk notched a pair of assists. Defenseman Danny DeKeyser had an assist for his first NHL point with the Red Wings, who snapped a three-game winless skid (0-1-2) to vault past idle Dallas and hand Nashville its ninth shutout loss.
Howard shook off a collision with Chris Mueller early in the first period to register his 14th career shutout - and third in 2013. Howard denied Matt Halischuk on a breakaway late in the second period and didn't have to make a save as Bobby Butler lost control of the puck during a penalty shot in the third.
Zetterberg gave Howard all the offense he would need at 6:23 of the second period. DeKeyser wired a shot wide of the net but Zetterberg beat Predators defenseman Kevin Klein to the carom to open the scoring. Franzen's backhander beat Pekka Rinne under the crossbar with 2:59 left in the third before Abdelkader's empty-net goal sealed the win.
Rinne finished with 29 saves for the Predators, who have dropped six in a row and nine of 10 (1-7-2) to fall nine points behind Detroit.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Nashville C Filip Forsberg, 18, made his NHL debut and recorded two shots on goal in 18:37 of ice time. The 11th overall pick of the 2012 draft, Forsberg played for Leksands IF in Sweden's second division. ... Datsyuk moved into sixth place on the franchise's all-time list for points (759). ... Zetterberg scored for the first time since tallying twice in Detroit's 5-2 win over Vancouver on March 16.
Detroit | Nashville | |
Henrik Zetterberg 2 | Points | N/A |
Henrik Zetterberg 1 | Goals | N/A |
Pavel Datsyuk 2 | Assists | N/A |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Jimmy Howard 1.000 | Save Percentage | Pekka Rinne .935 |
Jimmy Howard 22 | Saves | Pekka Rinne 29 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Detroit | 32 | 3 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 27 |
Nashville | 22 | 0 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 4 | 26 |