With the victory, the Bolts finished 4-1-0 on their season-long, five-game homestand.
There was good and bad news on the injury front for Tampa Bay. Brayden Point returned from a one-game absence caused by a lower-body injury, but Pierre-Edouard Bellemare did not dress. The Lightning went with an 11 forward, seven defensemen lineup for the second-straight game.
With Boston's win earlier in the afternoon, Tampa Bay remains three points clear of the Bruins for the third spot in the Atlantic Division.
The Bolts now head south to Sunrise to wrap up their regular season series against the Panthers on Sunday night.
Scoring Summary
1st Period
TBL 1, NSH 0
1:51 Victor Hedman (20) - Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov - PPG
Victor Hedman reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career with a one-timed blast on Tampa Bay's opening power play. From down low along the goal line, Nikita Kucherov threaded a pass through to Steven Stamkos in his usual spot at the left circle. Stamkos dished back to Hedman in the high slot, and he let loose a heavy shot that zipped past Juuse Saros' glove.
TBL 2, NSH 0
10:59 Anthony Cirelli (17) - Mikhail Sergachev
Mikhail Sergachev forced a turnover in the neutral zone and worked the puck ahead to Anthony Cirelli at the blue line. Cirelli slipped in alone and doubled the Lightning's lead with a shot that beat Saros to the stick side.
TBL 2, NSH 1
17:18 Roman Josi (21) - Matt Duchene, Filip Forsberg - PPG
Tampa Bay was left scrambling after the Predators were able to hold play in their offensive zone. Nashville quickly worked the puck around to Roman Josi in the slot and he snapped a shot past Brian Elliott for a power play goal.
TBL 3, NSH 1
19:40 Nikita Kucherov (21) - Brayden Point - PPG
The Bolts pushed their lead back to two with their second power play goal of the period. In the final minute of the period, Brayden Point won a face-off back to Nikita Kucherov, who drifted his way to the top of the left circle before wristing a shot through traffic and by Saros.
2nd Period
TBL 3, NSH 2
10:42 Alexandre Carrier (3) - Philip Tomasino, Mattias Ekholm - PPG
The Lightning were four seconds away from killing off a Pat Maroon hooking penalty, but Alexandre Carrier snuck past Sergachev at the near post and tapped home a feed from Philip Tomasino.
TBL 4, NSH 2
13:58 Steven Stamkos (35) - Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat
From a sharp angle at the bottom of the left circle, Stamkos one-timed home a feed from Kucherov to reestablish Tampa Bay's two-goal lead.
3rd Period
TBL 5, NSH 2
1:37 Ross Colton (22) - Victor Hedman, Nick Paul
Nick Paul won an offensive zone draw back to Victor Hedman at the left point. As he tried to get position on Carrier in the slot, Ross Colton ended up getting checked to the ice, but had Hedman's point shot deflect off the back of his leg and get past Saros. That's now five goals and six points for Colton over his last three games.
TBL 6, NSH 2
2:08 Pat Maroon (11) - Steven Stamkos
Any chance of a Nashville comeback was put to rest 31 seconds later when Pat Maroon buried a wrist shot from the slot to make it 6-2. The Predators would make a goaltending change following the goal, putting in David Rittich for the final 17:52.
