Predators top Stars to stay undefeated on road

DALLAS --Mattias Ekholm scored in overtime to help the Nashville Predators remain undefeated on the road this season with a 5-4 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

The eight-game road winning streak is the third longest to begin a season in NHL history; the Buffalo Sabres won their first 10 games away from home in 2006-07, and the New Jersey Devils won their first nine in 2009-10.
Ryan Hartman, Ryan Johansen, Yannick Weber and Roman Josi scored, and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for Nashville (13-3-0), which trailed 3-1 in the second period and has won five straight.
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Stars highlights]
"We just don't give up," Ekholm said. "You can see it today, 3-1, they're close to getting 4-1. We just dig one out pretty much."
Tyler Pitlick, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and
Denis Gurianov
scored for the Stars (9-6-2), who are 1-1-2 in their past four games. Ben Bishop made 29 saves.
Ekholm scored at 2:27 of overtime, 41 seconds after leaving the penalty box. He was penalized for cross checking at 19:46 of the third period.
"I guess a little bit of karma coming into that," Ekholm said. "Good job by the guys killing it. I was just determined when we got out there."

Josi tied the game at 4-4 with 43 seconds remaining in the third on a 6-on-4 advantage, with Nashville on a power play and Saros pulled for an extra attacker.
Following the Ekholm penalty, 1:46 of the Nashville penalty kill came during the 4-on-3 overtime.
"They have a great power play," Josi said. "You have to try to get in shooting lanes, and Juuse obviously made a couple huge saves."
Pitlick gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 13:05 of the first period on a wrist shot in the slot following a give-and-go from Radek Faksa.
Hartman tied the score at 1-1 on the first shift of the second period at 12 seconds. He stole the puck in the neutral zone from Julius Honka and scored on a wrist shot.

Dallas took a 2-1 lead when Seguin scored at 6:47 of the second period off a cross-crease pass from Honka, who skated the puck in from the right point.
Spezza gave the Stars a 3-1 lead at 14:32 of the second with a power-play goal from the left face-off circle on a rebound. It was the 899th NHL point for Spezza, who was honored by the Stars for playing his 1,000th NHL game on Oct. 30.

Nashville pulled within 3-2 when Johansen tipped in a shot 17 seconds into the third period. Weber tied the game at 3-3 with a wrist shot from the right point at 1:54 of the third.
Gurianov redirected a shot from the right point by
Ben Gleason
at 8:58 of the third to give Dallas a 4-3 lead. It was Gurianov's first NHL goal and Gleason's first NHL point.

Gurianov was recalled from Texas of the American Hockey League on Wednesday, defenseman Joel Hanley on Friday, and Gleason on Saturday.
"It would have been a nice game to win with the way those guys came in," Spezza said.
Dallas lost defenseman John Klingberg for at least four weeks after hand surgery Friday, and defenseman Roman Polak missed the game with an illness.
"You could tell that we were young on the back end," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "We weren't as crisp on a lot of things, but I liked the fight."

They said it

"It builds confidence when you're in those situations going into the third period to know you can go out and turn the game around." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette

"I woke up this morning with a phone call at 7:30. In about 15 minutes, I jumped in the shower and packed a bag. I don't even know what I've thrown in there." -- Stars defenseman Ben Gleason on making his NHL debut

Need to know

The Predators, who entered Saturday last in the NHL on the power play at 13 percent (7-for-54), went 1-for-5. … Honka replaced Klingberg on the first defense pair and had an even rating playing a season-high 17:49. … Predators forward Viktor Arvidsson returned to the lineup after missing two games. He had an assist in 19:00 of ice time. ... Nashville forward Calle Jarnkrok was scratched with a lower-body injury. … Dallas on Saturday acquired defenseman
Taylor Fedun
in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Fedun didn't play.

What's next

Predators: At the Anaheim Ducks on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SN, FS-TN, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Stars: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday (8:30 p.m. ET; FS-SW+, FS-O, NHL.TV)