8:00 PM ET, December 30, 2013
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Wilson's Two Goals Propel Predators
Fisher has three goals and three assists in Nashville's past two games. Craig Smith, Nick Spaling, and Roman Josi also scored.
Justin Abdelkader, Pavel Datsyuk, Drew Miller, and Patrick Eaves scored for the Red Wings, who have lost two of three.
The teams combined for five goals in a back-and-forth third period, but Nashville never relinquishing the lead.
Wilson put the Predators ahead 1:54 into the game with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat goalie Jimmy Howard on the glove side. It was the first shot on Howard, who had been out with a knee injury since Dec. 10.
Detroit tied it at 3:00 of the first period when Abdelkader carried the puck from below the Nashville goal line to the left of the net and lifted a backhander high to the stick side of goalie Marek Mazanec.
Nashville regained the lead when Smith scored his team-leading 11th goal at 9:50 of the first.
Skating down the left side on a 3-on-2 rush, Smith pulled up near the left faceoff dot and beat Howard on the short side.
Spaling made it 3-1 at 4:24 of the second, but Datsyuk got the Red Wings back within a goal just 35 seconds into the third period with a one-timed shot from the right circle.
Fisher stretched Nashville's lead back to two goals at 5:50.
Wilson carried the puck behind the Detroit net, emerged on the right side, and found Fisher on the left side for a shot into an open net that gave him his 10th goal of the season.
Fisher set himself up for a Gordie Howe hat trick when he fought Abdelkader late in the second period.
Miller made it 4-3 at 11:30, but Wilson's second of the game was scored 37 seconds later.
Eaves netted his first of the season at 14:52 during a power play to again bring the Red Wings within a goal, 5-4.
Josi's empty-net, power-play goal concluded the scoring.
Predators defenseman Seth Jones had two assists for the second consecutive game.
Game notes
Nashville is 15-1-2 when it has scored first this season. ... Wilson has points in three consecutive games. ... Datsyuk has 69 points in 63 career games against Nashville.
Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press
