Forsberg, Predators top Penguins in OT for 6th straight victory

NASHVILLE -- Filip Forsberg scored 14 seconds into overtime to give the Nashville Predators their sixth straight win, 3-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Forsberg entered the zone while Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly and Penguins forward Sidney Crosby collided at the blue line before scoring on a wrist shot.

“I think I’m playing a pretty fast game,” said Forsberg, who also had an assist. “I think our line is playing really well down low. I think we’re getting a lot of pucks back on the forecheck and creating like that. Obviously [O’Reilly and Nashville forward Gustav Nyquist] are making a lot of plays happen for me. I just try to be in the right spots.”

Michael McCarron scored twice, and Juuse Saros made 29 saves for the Predators (11-10-0), who led 2-0 entering the second period.

“It’s tough to beat us,” McCarron said. “It’s fun to play. We roll over teams and just keep rolling and rolling. We’re finally starting to play as a group of five on the ice, which is awesome. If we can continue to get better every single day, we’ll be a force.”

Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin scored for the Penguins (10-10-1), who have lost three of four (1-2-1). Tristan Jarry made 23 saves.

“It’s unfortunate,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought our team played hard tonight. I thought we had a lot of good looks. It’s unfortunate the way it ended.”

McCarron gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 10:20 of the first period on a redirection of a shot from the point by Tyson Barrie. Nyquist had the secondary assist to extend his point streak to nine games (two goals, nine assists).

“I’m just happy with the way the team is playing right now,” Nyquist said. “Obviously, it’s fun to get on a little bit of a roll here. It’s hard to do in this league. We’ve just got to keep doing the same things. We beat a pretty good team today.

“Overall, I thought kind of a back-and-forth game, but I thought we had a really strong third after they scored. I thought we were the ones that were pushing the play, and that was really nice to see today.”

McCarron made it 2-0 at 18:38 on a loose puck in front of the net on a delayed penalty. Philip Tomasino attempted a centering pass that was deflected, and McCarron scored off the rebound for his second goal of the game.

Malkin cut it to 2-1 at 5:49 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot on the rush off Reilly Smith’s drop pass to the left circle.

“[Nashville] has played really well,” Sullivan said. “They had won five in a row going into it. Their top line is dynamic. Forsberg is having a great year. They’ve got [Roman Josi and Ryan McDonagh] on the blue line. This is a good hockey team. We came out of the first period down; I thought our team played well. And that’s what we told them.

“We’ve just got to stay with it. We’ve got to dig in and try to work to get the next goal and claw back into the game. I give the players a lot of credit. I thought we did that.”

Rust tied it 2-2 at 2:26 of the third period on a wrist shot that banked in off of Predators defenseman Jeremy Lauzon. Rust returned after missing three games because of a lower-body injury.

“It’s always nice to score goals, but it’s always nice to get on the score sheet when you’ve been out for a little while,” Rust said. “It’s something that gives a little bit of confidence. Hopefully I can keep my game going in the right direction.”

NOTES: Rust finished with three shots on goal in 19:40 of ice time. He played on the top line with Crosby and Jake Guentzel. … The Predators played 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the second consecutive game. ... Nashville defenseman Dante Fabbro returned after being a healthy scratch the previous three games. He finished with one blocked shot and one shot attempt in 12:35 of ice time.