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  Saturday, Oct. 23 8:00pm ET
Predators run winning streak to 3
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tom Fitzgerald, the first captain in Nashville Predators history, made sure his team went over .500 for the first time ever.

Fitzgerald had a goal and an assist Saturday night as the Predators edged the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 to climb above the break-even mark at 4-3-1.

Greg Johnson
Dan Cleary receives a dose of frustration from the Nashville tandem of Greg Johnson and goalie Mike Dunham.
"We're a second-year team, so there are going to be a lot of firsts," Fitzgerald said. "I think it's an indication of which way this franchise is going, so I'm just glad to be a part of it."

"I think that is one of the steps to take for respectability in the league," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said.

Greg Johnson also had a goal and assist for the Predators, who have won three straight. Mike Dunham made 32 saves to improve to 4-0-0. Alexander Selivanov scored twice for Edmonton, which has lost three in a row.

"Tom's the best captain in the world," said Predators forward Sergei Krivokrasov, who also scored.

Johnson banged Kimmo Timonen's pass in from the left post to put Nashville up 1-0 at 15:58. Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford steered Johnson's initial shot into the right corner, but Timonen retrieved it and passed across the crease to a wide-open Johnson for the score.

Fitzgerald lifted the rebound of his own shot over a fallen Ranford to make it 2-0 early in the second period.

"It was just that sense of urgency to win," Fitzgerald said.

Nashville's Patrick Cote said: "Tonight you can really see why Tom's got the 'C' on his jersey."

Krivokrasov put the Predators up 3-0 when he skated out from behind the Oilers net and put a screened wrist shot above Ranford's stick 8:34 into the second.

Selivanov answered for Edmonton at 10:05, cutting the lead to 3-1 on an unassisted wraparound over Dunham.

Just 47 seconds later, Oilers rookie Paul Comrie squeezed a shot through Dunham's pads to make it 3-2. Comrie's first NHL goal was awarded only after a video replay.

Ville Peltonen put Nashville up 4-2 on the power play, tipping the rebound of Timonen's slap shot from the point by Ranford 3:35 into the final period for the game-winner.

Selivanov scored again in a goalmouth scramble with 8:58 left to cut it to 4-3. Dunham made a diving stick save on Tom Poti in the final minutes, and referee Rob Martell waved off an apparent tying goal by Edmonton's Doug Weight with 35.1 seconds left.

"I hit it, and he waved it off and he said he's adamant about it," Weight said. "He said it's his decision. All I wanted was to just go up (to the video replay booth) and let them make the call.

"I shot it and I pushed it in, and I didn't even hear the whistle."

Edmonton coach Kevin Lowe's team climbed back from an early deficit to make the game close.

"I'm disappointed in the slow start," he said. "We just didn't get ourselves going."

"Mike Dunham is playing extremely well," Fitzgerald said. "We're giving him that nice cushion, but we're definitely making things way too interesting at the end."

Predators center Sebastien Bordeleau played his first game since last April 12, when he fractured a vertebra as a result of a hit by Los Angeles Kings defenseman Sean O'Donnell.

"I see life in a different way now. I could have been paralyzed in a wheelchair," Bordeleau said.

 


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