EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) - David Poile now has the most wins in NHL history as a general manager.
Viktor Arvidsson scored a pair of goals as Poile’s Western Conference-leading Nashville Predators rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. The victory was the 1,320th in Poile’s career, surpassing Glen Sather, the front-office leader for the Oilers’ dynasty of the 1980s who later took over the New York Rangers in 2000.
“It’s big. It’s a big two points in the standings and it’s a big accomplishment for David and his family to be the winningest GM in the history of the league,” Arvidsson said. “It’s huge for him.”
Scott Hartnell and Austin Watson also scored for the Predators, who have won six straight. Pekka Rinne made 34 saves.
“It’s not something that we want to make it a habit of, but I think it was a couple of bad bounces that put us in the hole,” Watson said of the need to mount a comeback. “I think we have that confidence as a group that we know that we can score goals if we stick to what we’re talking about and stick to what (coach Peter Laviolette) is preaching, then we’re going to be able to score goals and come back in the hockey game and we were able to do that.”
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl scored for the Oilers, who have lost two straight.
Nashville was trailing 2-0 when Nick Bonino made a touch pass to Hartnell in front, and he beat Cam Talbot for his 12th of the year with 3:32 left in the second period.
Arvidsson tied it with 10 seconds left in the second when he converted on a Filip Forsberg pass on a 2-on-1 opportunity.
Arvidsson got his second of the game and 24th of the season with 5:08 remaining in the third period as he batted home the rebound from a shot by Forsberg.
Nashville put the game away two minutes later as Watson scored into a wide-open net.
McDavid opened the scoring 11 minutes into the first period with his 29th goal of the season. He showed some patience in front of the net, waiting for Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne to commit before scoring.
Draisaitl beat Rinne with a long wrist shot on a power play to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead with 53 seconds left in the first.
NOTES: It was the last of three games between the teams this season, with Nashville winning the previous two. Edmonton has lost 12 straight to the Predators, with four shutouts during that span. … Oilers D Adam Larsson was out of the lineup and will also miss Saturday’s game to attend his father’s funeral in Sweden. As a result, Ethan Bear made his NHL debut. … Also out for the Oilers was Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (ribs). The Predators had no injuries to report. … F Pontus Aberg played his first game for the Oilers in Edmonton since being acquired in a trade-deadline deal with Nashville.
UP NEXT
The Predators are in Vancouver to face the Canucks on Friday.
The Oilers continue a five-game homestand on Saturday against the New York Rangers.
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