Roman Josi hits career high in assists, helps Nashville Predators defeat Penguins
For the fifth time in five games Tuesday, the Nashville Predators played their "biggest game of the season," this time against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bridgestone Arena.
The Predators' push for the postseason continued with a 4-2 victory, their second win in a row in the first of three games in a row against Eastern Conference teams.
Mattias Ekholm put the Predators ahead 1-0 with a little more than a second remaining in the first period, his fourth of the season and first since Jan. 25.
Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel's 29th goal of he season tied the score 1-1 with 6 minutes remaining in the second period.
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Tanner Jeannot gave the Predators the lead back with 4:20 left in the second when he tipped in Roman Josi's shot for his 19th goal of the season. Josi also set a career high with his 50th assist, two days after he set a career high in goals. He also became the third Predator to record 50 assists in a season, joining Paul Kariya and Ryan Johansen.
He needs two more and is four short of setting the single-season record.
Eeli Tolvanen made it 3-1 on his first goal since Feb. 9 ,when he scored with 2:57 left in the period.
Yakov Trenin put the game away on his empty-net goal with 1:50 remaining in the third.
Predators goalie Juuse Saros made 35 saves and moved to 9-0 in starts after a game off.
The Penguins' 19 road victories were tied for most in the NHL.
The Predators are 35-21-4. The Penguins are 36-16-9.
Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Roman Josi career high in assists: Predators beat Pittsburgh Penguins
