Forsberg scores game winner against Stars again in Predators' 6 3 victory

DALLAS (AP) — Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist in the third period as the Nashville Predators beat Dallas 6 3 on Friday night to spoil the return of Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists, and Jeremy Lauzon, Tommy Novak, Gustav Nyquist and Juuso Parssinen also scored for Nashville.

Roman Josi added three assists. Oettinger, sidelined since Dec. 15 with a lower body injury, made 32 saves. It was Forsberg’s second winner for backup goalie Kevin Lankinen against Dallas in seven days. Forsberg scored in overtime last Saturday in Nashville’s 4 3 win at Dallas. The Predators are 6 0 1 in their last seven road games.

Forsberg leads the team with 22 goals and 47 points. Jani Hakanpaa, Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene scored for Dallas. Lauzon and Novak gave Nashville a 2 0 lead in the second period before the teams combined for seven third period goals — two of them into Dallas’ empty net in the closing minutes.

Hakanpaa pulled the Stars within a goal 1:09 into the third with his second of the season, but O’Reilly answered about 2 1/2 minutes later by jamming home a rebound. Johnston pulled Dallas to 3 2 at 9:11 of the third by scoring during a delayed penalty, but Forsberg’s goal 19 seconds into a power play at 10:08 put the Predators back ahead by two.

About 3 1/2 minutes later, Duchene, who played his previous four seasons with Nashville, fired home a power play goal to make it 4 3. Nyquist and Parssinen scored empty netters at 17:27 and 19:29, respectively. Lankinen stopped 19 shots. He’s 6 3 0 this season playing behind Juuse Saros, who is second in the NHL with 32 starts, and is 6 2 1 in his career against the Stars.

Lauzon, the NHL leader in hits, scored his career best fourth goal of the season and his 12th career goal in six seasons. Hakanpaa’s other goal this season was the game winner at Nashville with four seconds left on Dec. 23 as the Stars became the first team in league history to score the tying and winning goals in the final 15 seconds.

The Stars went 8 3 2 during Oettinger’s absence. UP NEXT Predators: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday night. Stars: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night. ___ AP NHL:.