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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Sergei Fedorov capped a three-goal outburst in the second period as the Detroit Red Wings extended their season-high unbeaten streak to seven games with a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. Fedorov scored his 18th goal with 4:49 to go in the second, helping Detroit improve to 5-0-2 since losing to Minnesota on December 12. The defendinganley Cupchampions have just two loes in their last 15 games a they try to meet coach Dave Lewis' goal of leding the Western Conferencey New Yea's Day. Boyd Devereaux srked the big second period 3:37 and Sean Avery made t 3-0 just under four minutes later. Kris Draper had the other goal for the Red Wings, who avenged a 3-1 loss at Nashville on October 26. Andreas Johansson ended a 10-game drought with his team-best 13th goal for the Predators, who had a season-high three-game unbeaten streak stopped. Draper scored on the Red Wings' first shot 6:02 into the opening period. A poor clearing pass by defenseman Bill Houlder was picked off by Detroit's Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan fired a shot wide of the net, but the puck caromed right onto the stick of Draper, who flicked the puck over the left shoulder of goaltender Tomas Vokoun's left shoulder. Devereaux made it 2-0 at 3:27 of the second period. His wrist shot from the left faceoff dot deflected off the hip of Nashville defenseman Kimmo Timonen and over Vokoun's right shoulder. "The shot went off of Kimmo's (backside), there was nothing I could do," Vokoun said. Making his 12th straight start, Vokoun was yanked just over four minutes later after allowing Avery's third goal of the season. "I didn't have a good night tonight," said Vokoun, who made just eight saves. "The Avery line contributed with a couple of goals tonight," Lewis said. "That was the difference in the game." "Once you fall three goals behind to a team like Detroit, it is pretty tough to come back," Predators coach Barry Trotz admitted. Detroit's Manny Legace was forced to leave with 6:13 to go in the second after a collision with Nashville's Scott Hartnell. Skating toward the net on a breakaway, Hartnell was hooked from behind by defenseman Jason Woolley and lost his balance. His right leg made contact with Legace's head, causing it to snap backward. Legace was not seriously injured. He made 21 saves before giving way to Curtis Joseph, who stopped 12 of 13 shots the rest of the way. "He has a bit of a sore neck, but he will be fine to back up tomorrow night," Lewis said. "For the most part, we played strong defensively tonight," Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios added. "When we did have breakdowns, the goaltenders bailed us out." Johansson got his first goal since November 29, the same night he suffered a separated shoulder that sidelined him for four games. But Fedorov restored Detroit's three-goal lead off a pass from two-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom, who recorded his 500th NHL assist. From the left point, Lidstrom fed Brett Hull in the high slot. Hull unleashed a slap shot thru traffic that went off the mask of goalie Jan Lasak. Fedorov put in the rebound for his 18th goal. "The shot went straight up off of the goalie's mask," Fedorov said. "It came right to me." Hartnell scored his second goal in as many games, but the Predators were unable to generate anything else offensively. "We weren't able to finish our chances tonight, and we had a lot of them" Trotz said. |
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