Saros makes 24 saves for Predators in shootout victory against Stars

NASHVILLE -- Juuse Saros made 24 saves and did not allow a goal in the shootout for the Nashville Predators in a 3-2 win against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday.

Ryan Ellis and Yakov Trenin scored for the Predators (23-19-1), who have won four of five. Ryan Johansen scored the only goal in the shootout.
"We're feeling good," Johansen said. "It's a simple recipe to have fun. You go out, you come to the rink every day, you work hard, and we obviously love what we do, and just have fun every single day. Kind of getting back to the basics after a tough start (5-8-0 through Feb. 9). Just coming and putting our work boots on and working for each other and having fun. That kind of pointed us in the right direction and snowballed from there. We've had each other's backs since day one, and that's come out here in the last 15 games or so (12-3-0)."

Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, and Anton Khudobin made 18 saves for the Stars (15-14-11), who had won four of six.
"We played great," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "We played our butts off. Everyone did, for the fourth game in six nights. And to dominate the third period like we did, it's disappointing just to get into overtime. But everyone on that team tonight, they worked their butts off. We played a really, really solid game."
Hintz gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:56 of the first period on a shot from the slot. John Klingberg knocked a puck down at the blue line to keep it in and found Hintz in the slot on a backhand pass.
"The more emotion there is out there, the more fun it is to play," Klingberg said. "It's obviously, I wouldn't say easier to motivate, but it's a lot more fun when it's a grinding game like that. It's huge points and these games are the ones that matter. That's the ones you want to play."
Ellis tied it 1-1 at 10:57 on a wrist shot from the point. It was his second game after missing 20 games with an upper-body injury.
"We really focused on the competitiveness of the game," Predators coach John Hynes said. "We're all aware of the standings. It's the best time of year, and this is when the most competitive games have got to bring out the most competitive men.
"We talked about really enjoying the process. We have a lot of respect for Dallas. They're a good team. They're a hard team to play against. They're really well coached, so we knew coming in, we talked about it this morning, it's going to be Masters Sunday and it was going to be a playoff-type game for us. Just really proud of the way the guys have readied themselves for the games."

Trenin gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 2:09 of the second period on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle.
"It's fun to play in these games," Trenin said. "It's like a playoff game. Every point matters. It's just a big battle."
Jamie Oleksiak tied it 2-2 at 18:56 when he went coast-to-coast and got around Trenin to beat Saros on the glove side.
Saros improved to 8-2-0 in his past 10 starts dating to March 20. He is tied with Jack Campbell of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the most wins among NHL goaltenders in that span.
NOTES: Stars defenseman Andrej Sekera left in the second period with a lower-body injury. There was no update. … Dallas forward Jason Dickinson played 13:05 after missing the past four games with a lower-body injury. … Predators forward Michael McCarron sat out the first of a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde in a 3-0 Predators loss on Saturday.