NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The power play clicked. The kids buzzed. Ex-Oiler Jordan Eberle scored his first two for his new team. John Tavares had a natural hat trick.
The Islanders had a fun Saturday night in this fun town, a 6-2 win over a fairly lifeless Predators team that played in Chicago a night earlier.
But that's no concern of the Isles, who got three power-play goals on Saturday after scoring just two in the first 10 games of the season.
They took a 3-1 lead into the third thanks to a score in the final 30 seconds of the second. John Tavares extended the lead by chipping Anders Lee's shot past beleaguered Preds goaltender Juuse Saros just 12 seconds into the third, starting the captain's run of goals.
He was credited with the next one at 2:52, apparently getting a piece of Lee's pass before the puck banked off two Predators and in. And he completed his second hat trick in three games with a rifle shot on the power play at 7:26, giving the power play a 3 for 4 night after going 2-for-33 on the season.
Ryan Pulock and Eberle had the other power-play goals and Mathew Barzal set up Eberle's key goal late in the second. Jaroslav Halak was exceptional, making 27 saves.
The Islanders had to expect a push back from the Predators in the second period after the home side slept through much of the first. The Isles had a little to do with that, showing the sort of urgency that was missing through much of Thursday's loss in Minnesota and Eberle scored his first goal as an Islander. But Nashville had a lot more to give after the opening 20 minutes.
They pulled even when Filip Forsberg followed up Kevin Fiala's strong rush to the net and snapped one over a prone Halak at 3:55 of the second. The Islanders were caught a bit flat-footed at times by the Preds' speed through the opening minutes of the second, but then the Isles showcased some speed of their own.
Barzal, who outraced even his own skates a couple times and fell down trying to make a move in the offensive zone on a couple of occasions on Saturday, made a nice outside/inside move to get position on Island Park's Anthony Bitetto as Barzal drove the net. The Isles rookie then pulled off a veteran move: He grabbed Bitetto's stick with his free hand to make it look as if the Preds defenseman were impeding him and got the penalty call.
Right off the draw on the power play, Pulock and Anthony Beauvillier played catch and Pulock stepped into one of his big slap shots that beat Saros cleanly for a 2-1 Islanders lead at 9:49.
The Isles had a chance to go 3 for 3 on the power play right after, when someone on the Predators bench chirped the officials a bit too loudly about the Bitetto call and drew a bench minor.
Halak held strong as the Predators pushed again for the tie, but it was the Islanders who got the key next goal with just 29.2 seconds left in the second. It was Barzal again leading the rush and he made a nice feed across to Eberle, whose shot trickled under Saros' arm and danced across the goal line.
Eberle's first as an Islander snapped a lot of droughts. It was another shot that Saros let through him and it marked just the third Islander power-play goal of the season. Pulock and Beauvillier picked up assists as both additions to the second power-play unit made a difference right away.
