Predators erupt for 5 first-period goals, top Sharks for 5th straight win
The Nashville Predators scored five goals in the first period and cruised to a 6-3 win over the visiting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists, defenseman Brady Skjei a goal and an assist and Matthew Wood, defenseman Roman Josi, Luke Evangelista and Steven Stamkos tallied for the Predators, who won their fifth straight.
Jonathan Marchessault had three assists, Ryan O'Reilly added two and Juuse Saros made 27 saves.
Will Smith scored twice and Adam Gaudette chipped in a goal for the Sharks, who have lost five in a row. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 13 shots.
Nashville led 5-1 after 20 minutes.
Forsberg opened the scoring 2:34 into the game when he tipped in a Fedor Svechkov pass. Forsberg has five goals and 12 points in his last five games.
Gaudette tied it with a tip-in of his own at 6:25.
But the Predators then scored three times in less than five minutes.
Wood connected from the right circle off the rush at 7:49, Josi on a shot from the high slot with 8:20 left in the period and Evangelista on a deflection off his skate 46 seconds later.
Skjei finished the first period scoring with a one-time slap shot from the left point with 3:24 remaining, rewarding O'Reilly's persistent solo forecheck in the San Jose zone. After gaining control of the puck for the third time, O'Reilly set up Skjei for the goal.
Stamkos' power-play goal with 7:22 left in the second period made it 6-1. He snapped in his 35th of the season from the top of the left circle.
Smith's power-play goal with 2:34 remaining in the middle period closed the gap to 6-2. His 20th goal came from the slot off a goal-mouth scramble. His second of the game came on a backhander from just below the right circle 1:40 into the third period to give Smith a career-high 47 points.
San Jose's Igor Chernysov returned after missing four games with a concussion, while Sharks' defenseman Vincent Desharnais was back after missing a game with an upper-body injury.