Stars Ride Johnston’s Two Goals Past Predators, 3–1

The Nashville Predators’ scoring struggles continued on Saturday night as the Dallas Stars converted twice on the power play and skated away with a 3–1 win at Bridgestone Arena.

Wyatt Johnston led the charge for Dallas, scoring twice—including the eventual game-winner in the second period—and Seth Jarvis added three assists to power the Stars to their third straight victory.

Predators’ Missed Opportunities

The Predators’ offense managed only one goal for the third time in four games despite six power play opportunities.

Their lone tally came late in the third period when Oskar Sundqvist finished a slick feed from Robby Fabbri at 18:23 to spoil Vitek Vanecek’s shutout bid.

“We had our looks on the man advantage, but we didn’t capitalize,” said head coach Lane Lambert. “Their goaltender saw everything, and our puck movement wasn’t quick enough to break their structure.”

Nashville’s power play went 0-for-6, dropping to 11% on the season.

Dallas Makes the Most of Its Chances

The Stars opened the scoring midway through the first when captain Jamie Benn buried a low wrister from the slot. Johnston doubled the lead in the second, converting a cross-crease pass from Jarvis on the power play at 8:32.

Johnston struck again early in the third—another power-play goal, again off a Jarvis assist—to make it 3–0 and effectively seal the game.

“Those guys executed exactly what we wanted,” said Stars coach Peter DeBoer. “Jarvis was flying tonight, and Johnston just has that nose for the net.”

Dallas went 2-for-3 on the man advantage, showing crisp puck movement and patience against an overworked Predators penalty kill.

Trouba, Pettersson Log Heavy Minutes

Jacob Trouba and Marcus Pettersson again carried the load defensively for Nashville, logging over 25 and 23 minutes respectively. Trouba registered six hits and three blocked shots, while Pettersson drew two penalties but also took four minutes in minors of his own.

The pairing helped limit Dallas to just 22 shots, but discipline issues and costly special-teams play erased the effort.

By the Numbers

• Power Play: DAL 2-for-3 (66.7%), NSH 0-for-6 (0%)

• Hits: DAL 35, NSH 29

• Faceoffs: NSH 44, DAL 34

• Attendance: 18,000 (sellout)

• Total Revenue: $2,202,220

Goaltending Battle

Vitek Vanecek turned aside 19 of 20 shots for the win, while Tristan Jarry made 19 saves on 22 attempts for Nashville, dropping to 2–7–0.

“He’s battling for us every night,” Lambert said of Jarry. “We’ve just got to give him more support. You can’t expect to win games 1–0 or 2–1 every night.”