PENGUINS Predators hold off Pittsburgh, 5-4; loss is sixth in row

Scott Walker, Paul Kariya, Martin Erat and Adam Hall scored for Nashville.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Scott Walker scored his first two goals since returning from surgery that kept him out of 33 games, and the Nashville Predators held off the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 Sunday night.
Paul Kariya, Martin Erat and Adam Hall also scored for the Predators and Scott Hartnell finished with two assists.
The Penguins, who scored more than one goal for the first time in four games, lost their sixth straight. Ryan Malone and Colby Armstrong each had a goal and an assist, and Michel Ouellet and Josef Melichar also scored.
Happy to be home
Nashville was very happy to be home after playing 10 of the last 13 on the road. The Predators chased Sebastien Caron out of the net 1:11 into the second after Walker's second goal made it 4-1.
Marc-Andre Fleury, playing for the first time in the building where he was drafted in 2003, gave up a breakaway goal to Hall less than two minutes later for a 5-1 lead. Fleury then stopped the next 18 shots he faced.
The Predators nearly squandered the lead as the Penguins refused to go away. They outshot Nashville 39-32, including 16-5 in the third. Armstrong scored his third of the season at 9:15 of the third, squeezing the puck through goaltender Tomas Vokoun's legs to make it 5-4.
That was as close as the Penguins got.
Malone put Pittsburgh up 1-0 with an assist off Vokoun's right foot after sweeping the puck off the rebound of his own miss past the goalie at 4:26 of the first period.
Tied game
The Predators tied the game 96 seconds later when Walker shot from the right circle and knocked the puck off the right post. It was his second this season and first in his fifth game since his return, and Nashville improved to 10-0-2 with him in the lineup.
Maxime Talbot may have given the Penguins an emotional boost after a fight with Nashville forward Darcy Hordichuk after Hordichuk's clean check of Ziggy Palffy at 5:58 of the second. Ouellet scored on a power-play at 17:23, and Melichar got his first goal less than a minute later to pull within 5-3.
Notes
Nashville now is unbeaten in six straight with Pittsburgh going back to Oct. 8, 2000. ... Kariya has at least a point in four straight games, while Sullivan extended his own streak with at least a point to five. Perreault now has 19 points in his last 18 games, including a point in five straight. ... Pittsburgh dropped to 9-2-3 when scoring first. Nashville improved to 17-0-3 when leading after the second period.
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