Mattias Ekholm #42 of the Nashville Predators (Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)

Mattias Ekholm scored in overtime to help the Nashville Predators remain undefeated on the road this season with a 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

The eight-game road winning streak is the third longest to begin a season in NHL history; the Buffalo Sabres won their first 10 games away from home in 2006-07, and the New Jersey Devils won their first nine in 2009-10.

Ryan Hartman, Ryan Johansen, Yannick Weber and Roman Josi scored, and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for Nashville (13-3-0), which trailed 3-1 in the second period and has won five straight.

“We just don’t give up,” Ekholm said. “You can see it today, 3-1, they’re close to getting 4-1. We just dig one out pretty much.”

Tyler Pitlick, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and Denis Gurianov scored for the Stars (9-6-2), who are 1-1-2 in their past four games. Ben Bishop made 29 saves.

Ekholm scored at 2:27 of overtime, 41 seconds after leaving the penalty box. He was penalized for cross checking at 19:46 of the third period.

“I guess a little bit of karma coming into that,” Ekholm said. “Good job by the guys killing it. I was just determined when we got out there.”

Josi tied the game at 4-4 with 43 seconds remaining in the third on a 6-on-4 advantage, with Nashville on a power play and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.

Following the Ekholm penalty, 1:46 of the Nashville penalty kill came during the 4-on-3 overtime.

“They have a great power play,” Josi said. “You have to try to get in shooting lanes, and Juuse obviously made a couple huge saves.”

Pitlick gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 13:05 of the first period on a wrist shot in the slot following a give-and-go from Radek Faksa.

Hartman tied the score at 1-1 on the first shift of the second period at 12 seconds. He stole the puck in the neutral zone from Julius Honka and scored on a wrist shot.

Dallas took a 2-1 lead when Seguin scored at 6:47 of the second period off a cross-crease pass from Honka, who skated the puck in from the right point.

Spezza gave the Stars a 3-1 lead at 14:32 of the second with a power-play goal from the left face-off circle on a rebound. It was the 899th NHL point for Spezza, who was honored by the Stars for playing his 1,000th NHL game on Oct. 30.

Nashville pulled within 3-2 when Johansen tipped in a shot 17 seconds into the third period. Weber tied the game at 3-3 with a wrist shot from the right point at 1:54 of the third.

Gurianov redirected a shot from the right point by Ben Gleason at 8:58 of the third to give Dallas a 4-3 lead. It was Gurianov’s first NHL goal and Gleason’s first NHL point.

Gurianov was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, defenseman Joel Hanley on Friday, and Gleason on Saturday.

“It would have been a nice game to win with the way those guys came in,” Spezza said.

Dallas lost defenseman John Klingberg for at least four weeks after hand surgery Friday, and defenseman Roman Polak missed the game with an illness.

“You could tell that we were young on the back end,” Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. “We weren’t as crisp on a lot of things, but I liked the fight.”

They said it
“It builds confidence when you’re in those situations going into the third period to know you can go out and turn the game around.” — Predators coach Peter Laviolette

“I woke up this morning with a phone call at 7:30. In about 15 minutes, I jumped in the shower and packed a bag. I don’t even know what I’ve thrown in there.” — Stars defenseman Ben Gleason on making his NHL debut

The Predators, who entered Saturday last in the NHL on the power play at 13 percent (7-for-54), went 1-for-5. … Honka replaced Klingberg on the first defense pair and had an even rating playing a season-high 17:49. … Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson returned to the lineup after missing two games. He had an assist in 19:00 of ice time. … Nashville forward Calle Jarnkrok was scratched with a lower-body injury. … Dallas on Saturday acquired defenseman Taylor Fedun in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Fedun didn’t play.

The Predators travel to take on the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.  Faceoff is set for 9 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.  Nashville Predators hockey is brought to you locally by the law offices of Burch and Lockhart.

Pete Weber’s Postgame Report

Allie Sullivan of Westwood basketball

The Westwood basketball teams traveled to Murfreesboro on Thursday night for a conference doubleheader with Middle Tennessee Christian.  In a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, the red hot shooting Cougars and Lady Cougars got a pair of wins over Westwood.   The Lady Rockets fell 37 to 26 while the Rockets lost 48 to 11.

The Lady Rockets fell behind early as MTCS ran out to a 12 to 5 lead.  Trailing by 7 entering the 4^th quarter, the Lady Rockets could not rally back for the win.  Allie Sullivan was the leading scorer for Westwood as she finished with 9 points to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Maddie Sullivan finished with 6 points and Leonor Moreno tallied 5.

The Rockets were held without a field goal in the first half in the loss.  Westwood was held to only 2 goals from the field and was 7 of 14 from the free throw line.  Cayden Trail finished as the high scorer with 5 points as he was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Brayden Dixon added 4 points.

Westwood returns home on Monday night when play host to Community.  Lucky Knott will be on hand to bring you the broadcast as part of the 1^st National Bank Hometown Sports Series.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM, the pregame show will begin at 5:50 here on Thunder.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams headed back to Rockvale on Thursday night for 2^nd round action in the Rockvale Tournament.  Both Raider teams fell on the night.  The Lady Raiders lost to Brentwood Academy 38 to 36.  The Red Raiders fell to Siegel 49 to 32.

The Lady Raiders saw Brentwood Academy erase a 1 point lead in the 4^th quarter as the Lady Raiders fell in the physical contest.  The Lady Eagles enjoyed a 9 to 2 free throw advantage in the final period in the bitter loss.  Chloe Gannon was the leading scorer for Coffee Middle as she tallied 15 points.  Alivia Reel added 12 points.

The Red Raiders fell behind 29 to 12 in the first half before making a charge in the 3^rd period.  A 14 point rally out of the halftime break was not enough as Coffee Middle dropped the contest to finish the tournament.  Hayden Garr was the leading scorer for Coffee County as he poured in 16 points.  Ethan Hargrove and Jacob Holder each netted 5 points.

The Lady Raiders will return to Rockvale on Saturday.  The Lady Raiders will square off against either Ocoee or Christiana in the consolation game.  Tip-off is set for 1:45 PM at Rockvale Middle School.

Abby Morgan of CHS basketball

The Lady Raider basketball team welcomed Grundy County to the Joe Frank Patch Memorial Gym on Thursday night for a scrimmage.  The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 14 to 2 lead in the 1^st quarter and coasted home for the win.  Coffee County won by a final score of 62 to 29.

A tenacious Lady Raider full court press forced more than 16 turnovers in the game.  Coffee County also hit 6 three point baskets on the night and went to the free throw line 17 times in the contest.  Abby Morgan and Bella Vinson each finished the game with 13 points while Jacey Vaughn added 10 as ten different Lady Raiders scored on the night.

The Red Raiders will be in scrimmage action on Saturday when they travel to Siegel.  Coffee County will take on Siegel at 9 AM and Macon County at 11.