Uniondale, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Nick Leddy had a goal and two assists as the New York Islanders beat NHL-leading Nashville 5-2 on Thursday night, snapping the Predators' six-game winning streak.
John Tavares and Johnny Boychuk each had a goal and one assist for the Islanders, who have won six of their last seven games. Jaroslav Halak made 30 saves and tied the Islanders' franchise record for wins in a season with his 32nd.
Nashville's Pekka Rinne gave up five goals on 40 shots.
"There were some holes tonight. There were some tough bounces, too, but we got to be better defensively," said Predators coach Peter Laviolette.
The Islanders got off to a strong start, but saw their three-goal lead dwindle to one by the start of the third period.
New York went back up by three on goals from Leddy and Josh Bailey 1:39 apart.
Leddy tapped in a pass from Colin McDonald on the rush to make it 4-2 at the 7:02 mark of the third. Bailey was credited with the Islanders' fifth goal when Nashville defenseman Roman Josi put the puck in off Rinne's pad.
Brian Strait scored one minute into the game for New York. Michael Grabner forced a turnover by a retreating Mike Ribeiro in the Nashville zone. Frans Nielsen collected the loose puck and dished to Strait, who sent a wrist shot from the slot past Rinne.
Boychuk blasted a slap shot past Rinne at 10:10 of the first period, and Tavares scored on a power-play to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead with 1:39 remaining in the first. Josi blocked Leddy's shot, but the puck found its way Tavares, who didn't miss from the left circle.
New York wasn't able to hold the three-goal load for long, however, as Filip Forsberg scored with 18 seconds left in the first.
The Predators trimmed their deficit to 3-2 on one-timer by James Neal off a pass from Ribeiro with 3:22 remaining in the second period.
"I thought the second period, the pace picked up for them and we weathered the storm. We got some big saves from (Halak)," said Islanders coach Jack Capuano.
Game Notes
Halak matched the record shared by Billy Smith (1981-82), Chris Osgood (2001-02) and Rick DiPietro (2006-07) ... Tavares has scored five times during a four-game goal streak ... Islanders forward Mikhail Grabovski left the game with an upper-body injury in the first period and didn't return. He remained on the ice following a hit by Nashville's Eric Nystrom. A stretcher was brought out for Grabovski, but he skated off on his own power.
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