NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ The Predators came into Saturday night's game dealing with a bout of food poisoning. The Penguins are more likely to be sick when they review the tape.
Defensive lapses and a barrage of Nashville odd-man rushes led to a 5-1 Predators victory Saturday night, as the Penguins remained winless away from PPG Paints Arena this season.
The Predators (2-3-0) scored four unanswered goals in the second period to put the Penguins (3-2-1) away.
Kevin Fiala netted two of them, the first coming just 2:26 into the period when he skated in unchecked on the left wing and beat Marc-Andre Fleury on his blocker side.
Midway through the period, Calle Jarnkrok did his best to mirror Fiala's effort with his own rush down the left side, beating Fleury's glove at 10:36 of the period to put the Predators up 3-1.
Fiala's second goal was a variation on the same theme. It was Filip Forsberg with the wrist shot from the left wing, but Fiala crashed the net and pushed the rebound past Fleury, making it 4-1, Nashville at 11:32 of the second.
Viktor Arvidsson finished off the second-period barrage with his second goal of the game at 19:24. Mike Ribeiro won a battle for a puck near the Penguins blue line, skated in the _ once again _ left wing, and fed a perfect pass to Arvidsson and the right side of the goal mouth for a tap-in score.
Just about every defenseman on the Penguins roster found himself skating behind the play at one point or another during the second period.
The second-period blitz came after an even first period that had the undermanned Predators taking some time to get their legs under them.
Scott Wilson got the Penguins on the board early in the first period with his second goal in as many games. Patric Hornqvist pushed the puck past Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm to set himself up with Wilson on a two-on-none break. Hornqvist pushed the puck ahead to Wilson, who beat Nashville goalie Juuse Saros five-hole to put the Penguins up 1-0 just 52 seconds into the game.
That lead didn't last very long. In what is rapidly becoming a trend, the Penguins took a careless penalty and paid for it on the penalty kill.
Defenseman Trevor Daley cleared a puck over the boards for a delay of game penalty, which Nashville converted into an Arvidsson power-play goal at 3:08 of the opening period.
Saros was one of several replacements in the lineup for the Predators, who experienced a bout of food poisoning throughout their roster Saturday, apparently stemming from some chicken soup in Detroit prior to their Friday night game against the Red Wings.
Regular goaltender Pekka Rinne was one of five regulars held out of the lineup for Nashville Saturday. In his place, Saros _ who had played in just one NHL game prior to Saturday _ finished with 34 saves.
Fleury had 18 saves on 23 shots through two periods, at which point he was pulled in favor of backup Mike Condon, who saw his first action of the season in the third.
Fleury has started every game this season for the Penguins, including back-to-back nights against Colorado and in Montreal earlier this week. The third period Saturday marked the first time someone other than Fleury played in the Penguins' goal this season
The Penguins return to action Tuesday with a home game against Florida.
