Predators 3, Lightning 2 (OT): James Neal scored at 4:27 of overtime as Nashville edged visiting Tampa Bay for its fifth victory in six games.

Neal was sprung loose by defenseman Roman Josi’s pass and warded off a defender before sliding the puck between Andrei Vasilevskiy’s pads. Taylor Beck and defenseman Seth Jones also scored for the Predators while Pekka Rinne turned aside 30 shots for his league-leading 31st victory.

Nikita Kucherov tallied for the fourth straight game and Brett Connolly added a goal for the Lightning, who trailed 2-0 after two periods. Vasilevskiy, a rookie who earned a point for the fifth time in six career decisions, made 26 saves.

The Lightning killed off two penalties in a scoreless first period and Vasilevskiy made eight saves, including a dazzling pad stop on Mike Ribeiro from alone at the right post. Rinne made a sprawling save on All-Star Tyler Johnson, and soon after Jones beat Vasilevskiy over the right shoulder from the right faceoff circle at 8:31 of the second.

Nashville doubled its advantage with 7:13 left in the middle session as Beck went to the net to sweep in the rebound of Paul Gaustad’s shot. Connolly chipped in a rebound 1:20 into the third and Tampa Bay tied it 6 ½ minutes later, when Kucherov batted in his 21st goal from the left side of the crease after receiving a feed from Ondrej Palat.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Nashville D Mattias Ekholm and C Colin Wilson both missed the game with upper-body injuries. … Tampa Bay C Cedric Paquette sat out with an upper-body ailment that he suffered during the morning skate while D Jason Garrison returned after missing the last two contests. … Connolly’s goal gave Tampa Bay a league-high 10 players with at least 10 tallies. … Predators D Victor Bartley played in his 100th NHL contest.