James Neal scored twice in the first period, Juuse Saros stopped 27 shots and the Nashville Predators beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 Tuesday night.
Ryan Johansen and Mattias Ekholm each had a goal and an assist, Filip Forsberg also scored and Viktor Arvidsson had three assists for the Predators.
Sergey Kalinin spoiled Saros’ bid for his first NHL shutout with 4:49 remaining, and Cory Schneider finished with 32 saves for the Devils, who have lost seven straight.
Arvidsson found Neal across the ice on a 2-on-1 and Neal beat Scheider glove-side 5:43 into the game. Neal scored again at 7:15 as he fired a shot from the right circle to beat Schneider on the far post.
Ekholm went top shelf, firing a shot from the blue line at 5:55 of the second period to put Nashville up 3-0.
Forsberg scored on a power play at 8:12 in the third period to push the lead to four with the Devils’ Nick Lappin serving a two-minute penalty for slashing Kevin Fiala.
Johansen scored a short-handed goal on Arvdisson’s third assist with 6:20 left to give Nashville a 5-0 lead.
NOTES: Jacob Josefson, Luke Gazdic and Devante Smith-Pelly were scratches for New Jersey. Reid Boucher, Petter Granberg and P.K. Subban were scratched by Nashville. … Missing his second consecutive game, Subban didn’t make the trip and is day-to-day. … Boucher was returning to New Jersey, which drafted him in the fourth round of the 2011 NHL draft, for the first time since he was picked up off waivers by the Predators on Dec. 3.
The Predators return to Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night to host the LA Kings. Faceoff is set for 7 PM and Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Fifth Third Bank/Nashville Predators Radio Network.
