Defensemen Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis added power-play markers for Nashville, which tied the Jets with 79 points but has a game in hand. Craig Smith also scored for the Predators, and Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne made 36 saves to earn his 30th win of the season.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Max McCormick scored goals for Ottawa, which lost its fourth straight road game. Goalie Craig Anderson saved 36 shots in the losing cause.
Josi initiated the scoring at 9:28 of the first period with the Predators’ second power-play tally in 24 chances, dating back over the past eight games. Moments after former Senator Kyle Turris rang the post with a slapper, Josi ripped a one-timer from above the right circle past Anderson’s glove. Arvidsson made it 2-0 at 14:32 of the first, finishing off a rush by Nashville’s top line. Filip Forsberg broke into the zone and fed Ryan Johansen, who slipped the puck to Arvidsson near the left post. Arvidsson flicked it into a half-open net.
Pageau got Ottawa on the board with his eighth goal off a rebound at 16:03 of the opening period, only 22 seconds after Nashville’s Colton Sissons went off for interference. Rinne made the initial stop on Mark Stone’s one-timer, but Pageau pounced on the loose puck and lofted it over Rinne.
Ellis restored a two-goal lead for the Predators at 6:34 of the second period with the man advantage. Josi teed up Ellis at the left point, and Ellis rifled a one-timer past Anderson’s blocker for his fourth goal.
McCormick notched his second goal, both against Nashville, at 8:05 of the second period. He skated to the top of the left circle after taking a pass from Fredrik Claesson and wired a wrister off the post and into the net.
Arvidsson made it 4-2 at 10:00 of the second thanks to Forsberg, who knocked down Erik Karlsson’s breakout pass and then slid the puck through his legs to Arvidsson. The right winger then slotted a wrister past Anderson’s blocker. Smith added insurance for the Predators with his 18th goal at 8:15 of the third period.
Kings roll past slumping Blackhawks
Torrey Mitchell, Andy Andreoff and Dion Phaneuf each scored, and the visiting Los Angeles Kings posted a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night at the United Center. Patrick Sharp scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who have scored two goals or fewer in six of their past seven games. Chicago fell to 1-8-1 in its past 10 contests and is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick made 27 saves to improve to 23-21-2 on the season. On the opposite end of the rink, Blackhawks goaltender Anton Forsberg turned aside 29 shots but fell to 6-12-3.
Los Angeles opened the scoring with 11:29 to go in the first period. Kings center Nate Thompson won a battle for the puck along the side boards and flipped a backhand pass to Mitchell, who ripped a slap shot into the net for his fourth goal of the season and his second in the past four games. Kyle Clifford parked his 6-foot-2, 211-pound frame in front of the net to screen Forsberg.
The Kings made it 2-0 with 3:23 remaining in the first period. Jonny Brodzinski snapped a wrist shot from the left circle, and Andreoff redirected the puck above Forsberg’s glove for his third goal of the season.
A power-play goal increased Los Angeles’ advantage to 3-0 with 15:56 to go in the second period. Phaneuf blasted a slap shot for his second goal in three games since the Kings acquired him from the Ottawa Senators.
Chicago cut the deficit to 3-1 when Sharp scored his seventh goal 1:42 into the third period. Defenseman Carl Dahlstrom threw a shot on net, and Sharp punched the rebound past Quick to snap an 11-game scoring drought.
Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane skated in his 800th career game. He did not record a shot on goal, and he finished with a minus-2 rating.
Before the game, the Blackhawks shipped defenseman Michal Kempny to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in the 2018 draft. Kempny, 27, tallied three goals and 12 assists in 81 career games for Chicago.
RESULTS
Minnesota 5 NY Islanders 3
Washington 3 Buffalo 2
Boston 2 Calgary 1 (OT)
Nashville 5 Ottawa 2
Los Angeles 3 Chicago 1
Anaheim 2 Las Vegas 0