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SAN JOSE www.officialblues.com , Calif. (AP) — If the Nashville Predators have any designs about catching Winnipeg in the Central Division race, they know there’s little margin for error down the stretch.That’s why coming out with a road win against one of the top teams in the league was so important.Filip Forsberg scored the tiebreaking goal with 12:58 left in the third period and Viktor Arvidsson added his second of the game into an empty net to help the Predators keep pace in the division race with a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.“It’s not in our division, but it’s huge,” Arvidsson said. “They played for something too, for clinching, and we needed this one. We really had to win this one to hang on in the race for the Central. I think we played a great game.”Colton Sissons also scored and Juuse Saros made 24 saves to keep the Predators within one point of first-place Winnipeg in the division race. The Jets still have two games in hand.“I think looking at our situation and where we want to go and where we want to get too you could put that under the biggest win of the season for sure,” forward Ryan Johansen said.Timo Meier and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks, who failed for the second straight game in their bid to clinch a playoff spot with their first back-to-back home losses in regulation all season. San Jose also remained one point behind Calgary in the Pacific Division.Martin Jones made 26 saves.“It was a tough game tonight, it was hard fought St. Louis Blues T-Shirts Authentic ,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. “There wasn’t a lot of room out there, 2-2 going into the third, they found a way to get a goal and we didn’t. That happens, we’ve got to bounce back.”Forsberg delivered the game-winner after the Predators won a faceoff following an icing call against San Jose. He pulled Jones out of the net and then scored on a wraparound that deflected off defenseman Tim Heed’s stick.Arvidsson then sealed it with the empty-net goal for his 31st of the season in just his 49th game after missing time with a broken thumb.“It’s ridiculous,” Johansen said. “It’s too bad for him having that injury in the middle of the year becausehe could be doing something really special that not a lot of players in this league can achieve. … He just goes out there and works his butt off and gives you everything he has. We’re really lucky to have him in our group.”The game between two of the top teams in the Western Conference was chippy at times with neither side willing to back down in what could be a playoff preview.San Jose’s Micheal Haley got into a fight in the first period with Wayne Simmonds to set the tone. Thornton and Sissons were then both sent off for cross-checking midway through the second period and spent much of their time in the box chirping at each other.Shortly after Thornton came out, he delivered the tying goal during 4-on-4 play when he got to the front of the net and knocked a pass from Brent Burns past Saros to make it 2-2.The teams had traded goals earlier in the second, with Joe Pavelski setting up Meier for his 27th goal of the season to make it 1-1 and Arvidsson answering with his 30th just 24 seconds later.The Sharks entered the day with the second-best goal differential in the first period at plus-23 but fell behind almost from the start against a Predators team that had been outscored by nine goals in the opening 20 minutes.San Jose had a strong opening shift before Nashville answered on a three-on-two rush that led to Sissons taking a pass from Craig Smith and knocking it into an open net for his second goal in as many games.NOTES: Johansen recorded his 400th career point with an assist on Forsberg’s goal. … Sharks F Evander Kane returned to the lineup after missing seven games with an injury and for personal time after his daughter, Eva, passed away last weekend during his wife’s 26th week of pregnancy. F Joonas Donskoi was scratched for the first time this season.UP NEXT:Nashville: Host Toronto on Tuesday.San Jose: Host Vegas on Monday. DALLAS (AP) When Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen had to face Pittsburgh’s top three scorers in a shootout Friday night St. Louis Blues Hoodies Authentic , he relied on a memory going back all the way to the first period.Carl Hagelin had beaten Lehtonen on a breakaway for a two-goal lead. The Stars came back to take a brief lead. With help from their goalie and a game-winning shot by Tyler Seguin, they earned a 4-3 victory over the Penguins.”I tried to use the Hagelin goal kind of as a reminder,” Lehtonen said. ”I’m sure they were looking at that too, thinking of shooting and that’s a way to score, so I decided to stay a little bit more out and be patient rather than have a lot of flow backwards like I usually do.”The approach worked. Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, with 71 goals between them this season, failed to score. Lehtonen saved Kessel’s shot on Pittsburgh’s last chance. Malkin shot wide left, and Crosby sent the puck off and over the crossbar.”I wasn’t that close to Crosby’s shot St. Louis Blues Hats Authentic ,” Lehtonen said. ”Luckily, he missed the net.”Lehtonen earned his fifth straight win, and Dallas also stretched its win streak to five games.Shooting second, Seguin sent a shot off Matt Murray’s right side and into the net.Dallas remained fourth in the Central Division, but pulled within three points of co-leaders Nashville and Winnipeg. Pittsburgh fell five points behind Metropolitan Division-leading Washington.The Penguins tied it with 1:13 left in regulation on defenseman Justin Schultz’s goal from above the left faceoff circle. Murray had been replaced by a sixth skater.”It was a big point,” Schultz said. ”We would have liked two, but that’s a good team over there.”Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Riley Sheahan and Hagelin.The Stars’ comeback began when Seguin scored his sixth goal in five games at 17:57 of the first period. John Klingberg and Dan Hamhuis scored early in the third period to give Dallas a 3-2 lead.It was the first win for the Stars when trailing after two periods, and the first loss for Pittsburgh when leading entering the third.”We’re usually a good third-period team,” Murray said. ”It’s unfortunate that a game like that has to go to a shootout Custom St. Louis Blues Jerseys , but we played really well.”Lehtonen finished with a season-high 34 saves.After the Stars missed the playoffs last season, they acquired goaltender Ben Bishop, who has played in more than two-thirds of their games.”I think they’re quite frankly one of the big stories of the team,” Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. ”Your goalie is gonna have to be the best player on the road and he has to win games for you if you’re gonna be a playoff team.”Murray made 33 saves, including stops on breakaways by Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov in overtime.Benn assisted on all three goals for Dallas.Sheahan scored at 9:07 of the first period. He beat Dallas’ Jason Spezza to a loose puck, skated down the left side and slid a backhand between Lehtonen’s legs.Dallas had a power play when Hagelin took the puck for a breakaway. Klingberg tried to reach out to slow Hagelin with his stick, but Hagelin beat Lehtonen anyway at 10:54.NOTES: Pittsburgh C Zach Aston-Reese assisted on Sheahan’s goal for his first point in his third NHL game. … Stars rookie D Dillon Heatherington also had first NHL point in his fifth game, assisting on Seguin’s goal. … Penguins D Jamie Oleksiak played against his former team for the first time since Dallas traded him in December. … Stars C Martin Hanzal missed his 21st game this season after being hit in the left leg by a teammate’s shot during Thursday’s game at Chicago. … LW Conor Sheary returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup after missing three games.UP NEXTPenguins: Complete a two-game trip Sunday at St. Louis.Stars: Host Vancouver on Sunday.