Krivokrasov Lifts Nashville

The Nashville Predators blew a two-goal lead in the third period for the second consecutive game. This time, however, they recovered to win.

Sergei Krivokrasov scored with 1:26 left to give the Predators a 5-4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night.

On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks scored three goals in the final 4:50 to beat the Predators 5-4.

"What a better way to relive a bad experience, and turn it into a positive," said Predators coach Barry Trotz, whose club snapped a three-game losing streak. "For a few minutes there it's 4-4, we're back in the same situation. But we didn't lose it."

Krivokrasov, who finished with two goals and an assist, pushed the rebound of Jamie Heward's point shot through goalie Garth Snow's legs on the power play. He scored earlier from an almost impossible angle, banking a shot from along the goal line off Snow's leg and into the goal.

"That's the way I was trying to shoot, because it was a bad angle," said Krivokrasov, who has scored six goals in his last five games. "There was no other way I could have scored from there."

Jeff Daniels, Tom Fitzgerald, and Andrew Brunette also scored for Nashville.

"It's nice to know we had it in us to pull a win out," Fitzgerald said.

Vancouver's Bill Muckalt and Todd Bertuzzi scored goals 44 seconds apart early in the third period to tie the game at 4. The Canucks also got goals from Adrian Aucoin and Mark Messier, who added two assists.

Messier opened the scoring with his 601st career goal on a 2-on-1 with Alexander Mogilny in the first period.

"Our guys worked hard," Canucks coach Mike Keenan said. "I think we got ourselves in a little bit of a hole, and worked really hard to get out of it. They were opportunistic and capitalized on a costly penalty."

Krivokrasov'winner came with the Canucks' Dave Scatchard in the penalty box for elbowing. It was Nashville's first power-play goal in five chances. The Predators failed to score on a 1:32 two-man advantage in the second period.

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