Penguins 4, Predators 1
James Neal and Brandon Sutter recorded a goal and an assist apiece as Pittsburgh snapped out of its offensive funk while sending visiting Nashville to its fourth loss in a row.
Defenseman Kris Letang and Pascal Dupuis also scored for the Penguins, who netted just one goal in each of their previous three games - all losses. Evgeni Malkin pushed his assist streak to six games by notching two and Marc-Andre Fleury made 17 saves en route to his first win since Nov. 1.
Gabriel Bourque had the lone goal for the Predators, who scored just twice over the final four games of their season-high seven-game road trip. Marek Mazanec, who made his first career start Tuesday against the New York Islanders, stopped 21 shots over two periods before being replaced by Carter Hutton (eight saves).
Bourque opened the scoring by redirecting a shot by defenseman Kevin Klein past Fleury 2:28 into the game. The Penguins, who had scored just three times on their previous 80 shots entering the contest, responded as Dupuis beat Mazanec with a snap shot at the 12:36 mark before taking the lead for good during a power play 3:20 later on Neal’s first goal of the season.
Neal set up Letang’s goal 7:58 into the second period and Sutter added his third tally of the season with 1:23 remaining in the session. Pittsburgh, which outshot Nasvhille 33-18, held the Predators to three shots in the final period to quash any hopes of a comeback.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pittsburgh improved to 12-2-0 when scoring three or more goals. … Predators LW Eric Nystrom left with an injury after losing a fight with Penguins LW Tanner Glass late in the second period. … Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby failed to score a goal for the eighth time in nine games but recorded his 16th assist of the season on Neal’s tip-in goal.