"This was coming," Lundqvist said. "We had a couple games now where we've been close. It was just a matter of time. Finally, we get the two points. We'll take a deep breath and we'll go after another two points Monday [against the San Jose Sharks]."
The Predators (4-3-1) had a two-game winning streak and a five-game point streak (4-0-1) end. Mattias Ekholm and Filip Forsberg scored, and Forsberg had an assist. Juuse Saros made 11 saves in his second start of the season.
"We created enough chances to win this game by a couple goals," Forsberg said. "You've got to give credit to Lundqvist, but at the same time we had chances that we've got to bury."
The Rangers had six shots on goal in the second and third periods. One was Vesey's 129-footer for an empty-net goal at 19:21.
"It's big," Hayes said of the win. "Hopefully, it's a springboard into a lot of other things."
The Rangers bucked their trend of giving up a goal early in a game (five times in the first 5:29 of the first period this season) and built a 2-0 lead. Fast scored at 14:58 of the first period and Kreider scored on the power play at 19:34.
The Predators made it 2-1 on Ekholm's first goal of the season at 1:44 of the second.