The top two teams in the National Hockey League's Central Division met Tuesday night at Bell MTS Place.

Ryan Hartman scored the winner with 60 seconds remaining in the third period as the first place Nashville Predators defeated the second place Winnipeg Jets 6-5.

Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen scored three minutes apart midway through the final frame as the Predators rallied from a 5-3 deficit.

Kyle Turris and Mattias Ekholm also scored for Nashville while Roman Jossi chipped in with five assists.

Jets foward Mark Scheifele scored his 20th and 21st goals of the season in the second period.

"We know we have a good team," said Scheifele. "We can play with any team in this league. Tonight was a bit of a junky ending but it's something we can learn from. When you play against these teams as good as Nashville, there is no quit in them. They play right to the buzzer and they showed us that tonight."

Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Hendricks and Paul Stastny also scored for Winnipeg.

Stastny made his Jets debut after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline on Monday.

Winnipeg (37-19-9) is four points back of the Predators.

The Jets host the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and then embark on a six-game road trip which begins Sunday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

photos courtesy Ray Peters