NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Now that he's played about 5 1/2 weeks' worth of games with his new team, P.K. Subban has noticed something about his fellow Nashville Predators defensemen.

"Our ability to generate offense as a group is pretty exceptional," he said. "We have guys who can skate the puck and can make plays. When we're at our best is when we keep it simple and take what the other team is giving us."

On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning were giving too much to Subban and company. Subban potted two goals, Ryan Ellis drew assists on all three Nashville markers and Roman Josi was in All-Star mode during the Predators' 3-1 victory at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.

In improving to 6-1-1 at home, Nashville (8-7-3) played one of its best all-around games of the season. It outshot Tampa Bay 30-25, didn't give up a goal until the last minute and controlled most of the game against one of the NHL's elite teams.

"Just the way we played good defense and made good decisions with the puck led to good offense," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "They're a really dangerous team, very fast and very skilled, and you really have to pay attention to detail on the other end of the ice."

That showed in how few quality chances the Lightning generated. Pekka Rinne (7-5-3) was sharp in making 24 saves, but most were routine, aside from a couple of stops on Tyler Johnson in the slot and another one on defenseman Andrej Sustr as he got a point-blank opportunity from the right faceoff circle during the first period.

Because Nashville was able to keep Tampa Bay (12-7-1) at bay, it soon took control. Its first goal was equal parts a fine play by Josi and puck luck.

Josi threw a centering pass in front of the net, where Viktor Arvidsson swatted it. The puck struck defenseman Braydon Coburn in the leg and got behind a helpless Ben Bishop at 4:25 of the first period for a goal that gave Lightning coach Jon Cooper a bad feeling.

"We needed to get the lead and we didn't get it," he said. "We kicked the first one into our net. Then we were chasing them a bit. We had a couple of early chances and Rinne was on his game. But it felt like we were chasing the whole time."

That chase soon became hopeless after a five-minute stretch midway through the second period. Tampa Bay could have easily equalized when Jonathan Drouin got free at the right goalpost with a yawning net in front of him, but he couldn't corral a bouncing puck.

It was a failure that chagrined and perplexed Drouin afterwards.

"It (stinks). That's usually a tap-in," Drouin said.

Subban made the Lightning pay moments later. With Brayden Point in the box for tripping Josi, Subban ripped a slapper by Bishop at 9:55 for a 2-0 lead.

Less than three minutes later, Subban was in lather-rinse-repeat mode. Shortly after a second power play ended, Subban teed up another slapper between the faceoff circles and beat Bishop to make the margin three.

"Last game, I hardly looked like an NHLer in St. Louis," Subban said. "I had a slow start again, but when the puck finds its way into the net, sometimes it gives you a boost of confidence."

The game's remainder played out in increasingly chippy fashion, neither team happy with the other's conduct. It was manifested in two scrums that both involved Tampa Bay right winger J.T. Brown, who paired off with Ellis to earn a combined 27 penalty minutes during the last one at 18:27 of the third period.

Johnson managed to end Rinne's bid for his 42nd career shutout with a rebound tally at 19:10, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Lightning from ending their four-game winning streak.

Bishop (7-6-0) finished with 27 saves on his 30th birthday.

NOTES: Tampa Bay Monday recalled F Erik Condra from its AHL affiliate in Syracuse. Condra had three goals and six assists in 13 games for Syracuse this season, scoring the game-winner on Saturday night. ... Nashville ended Monday night's game having killed 31 of its 32 penalties in November, ranking third in the NHL behind only Carolina and Ottawa. ... Lightning scratches were Condra, Ds Anton Stralman (upper-body injury) and Luke Witkowski. ... The Predators scratched C Cody Bass and D Matt Carle.