Stamkos gets 1,200th NHL point, Predators cruise past Flames

NASHVILLE -- Steven Stamkos got his 1,200th NHL point in a 5-1 win for the Nashville Predators against the Calgary Flames at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Stamkos became the sixth active player, and 53rd in NHL history, to reach the mark when he gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 5:04 of the second period. Ryan O'Reilly led a 2-on-1 rush with Luke Evangelista, who went around the net before finding Stamkos on Devin Cooley’s blocker side.

“It’s special,” Stamkos said. “You enjoy it more in a win and get to celebrate a little bit. I think it’s more of a thing that you kind of look back on when your career is over. When you’re in it, you’re just trying to do what you can to help, but you certainly have a moment of appreciation and gratitude to everyone that’s helped you achieve that.”

It was Stamkos’ 589th career goal, the fifth-most in League history at the time of the milestone, behind Brett Hull (656 goals), Alex Ovechkin (653), Mike Gartner (636) and Dino Ciccarelli (608).

“It was nice to see that one go in,” Stamkos said. “More importantly, just the timing in the game and getting us up two there. It was kind of a 50-50 game, but I thought we played great and shut it down there in the third. I know we gave one up on the [penalty kill] but just a really special night for this group to get a win here at home.”

Michael Bunting had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for the Predators (9-13-4), who have won three of their past four. Reid Schaefer and Ozzy Wiesblatt each scored his first NHL goal.

“I think there was a lot of special nights for a bunch of different people,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “That’s what makes the game great. Obviously to cap it off with a win makes it even better. I think for [Schaefer and Wiesblatt], being around the game as long as I have, we all remember our first ones.”

Morgan Frost scored for the Flames (9-15-4), who have lost three of their past four (1-2-1). Cooley allowed four goals on 16 shots before he was replaced after two periods by Dustin Wolf, who made 11 saves.

“I don’t think we had the jump tonight right from the start,” Calgary forward Mikael Backlund said. “I felt like we were slow today, and the result showed it.”

Schaefer gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 6:24 of the first period on the rebound of a shot attempt from Fedor Svechkov.

After Stamkos' goal, Jonathan Marchessault extended it to 3-0 at 14:25 of the second on a wrist shot from the slot. He had missed the previous two games because of a lower-body injury.

Wiesblatt pushed it to 4-0 at 15:32 with a redirection of a pass from Bunting. He pointed to the sky after the goal to honor his late brother, Orca, who was killed in a car accident in September at 25 years old.

“I’m just thinking it’s about time,” Wiesblatt said. “I feel like I’ve been all over it lately and have had so many chances this year to score. I’ve been robbed a ton. It’s just relief for me. Obviously, I’ve thought about pointing to the sky for my brother for a while now. Just a cool feeling, and obviously that one’s for him.”

Bunting made it 5-0 at 2:59 of the third period on a rebound of a deflection off Frost’s stick.

Frost cut it to 5-1 at 13:39 with a power-play goal, a one-timer from the slot off a backhand pass from Nazem Kadri.

“We didn’t play a game that we’re going to be pleased with, that’s for sure,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “I don’t think we had a lot of speed to our game, and maybe more so speed when we didn’t have the puck. Like we were really slow to work to support tonight all over the place, I found.”

NOTES: Stamkos scored his 93rd career game-winning goal, tying Sergei Fedorov and Joe Nieuwendyk for 15th on the NHL’s all-time list. … Nashville defenseman Nick Perbix missed the game because of an upper-body injury.