Stars dig out of early hole, score last to beat Predators

Mikko Rantanen scored the go-ahead goal on a power play midway through the third period as visiting Dallas Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Sunday night.

Oskar Back and Wyatt Johnston also scored goals and Jason Robertson added two assists for Dallas, which completed a sweep of a weekend back-to-back that began with a 3-2 home victory over Carolina on Saturday. Casey DeSmith made 23 saves on Sunday to pick up his first win of the season.

Jonathan Marchessault and Spencer Stastney each scored goals for Nashville, which had a two-game win streak snapped. Justus Annunen, making his second start of the season and first in 12 days, finished with 24 saves.

Nashville, coming in off a nine-round shootout victory over the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, took a 1-0 lead at the 8:02 mark of the first period when Marchessault banged in his own rebound from in front of the crease for his third goal.

The Predators extended the lead to 2-0 in the second period when Stastney, left alone at the top of the left circle, crept in and then whistled a wrist shot off the crossbar and in for his first goal.

Dallas cut the lead to 2-1 midway through the second period when Back, stationed in the slot and making his season debut, redirected Radek Faksa's point shot past Annunen.

The Stars tied it near the end of the period when Johnston finished an odd-man rush with his sixth goal, tucking in Robertson's crossing pass through Annunen's pads from the left side of the crease.

Dallas, which entered the game leading the league in power play at 34.6%, took its first lead with 9:16 left in the game on Rantanen's power-play score, tapping in Mavrik Bourque's cross-crease pass from the right doorstep for his fourth goal.

Nashville pulled Annunen for an extra attacker with 1:30 remaining but DeSmith stopped a pair of Filip Forsberg shots to seal the win.

--Field Level Media