NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- For most of Wednesday night's game, the Dallas Stars owned a territorial edge. Late in the second period, they possessed a 25-11 advantage in shots on the Nashville Predators.

But the best player on the ice for much of the game was Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, who did what his counterpart, Kari Lehtonen, could not. He made the saves that eventually spelled the difference in a 5-2 Predators win.

Rinne (8-5-3) stopped 33 shots, including all 22 Dallas fired in the second period, as Nashville (9-7-3) won its fifth straight home game and improved to 7-1-1 at Bridgestone Arena. In November, Rinne is 7-1-2 with a 1.39 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage.

"The difference in today's game was Peks," defenseman P.K. Subban said. "He was phenomenal. He stood on his head and made some big saves."

On the other hand, Lehtonen (4-6-3) continued his early-season struggles by making only 16 saves on 20 shots before being pulled for a sixth attacker late.

While Lehtonen couldn't be faulted for some defensive errors in front of him, coach Lindy Ruff wasn't willing to absolve him of all blame.

"There were a couple that have to be stopped," Ruff said. "You do that, it's a 3-2, 2-2 game. We didn't give up the big rush chances or the two-on-ones. About 70 percent of their chances came off one save in the zone."

Lehtonen starred in the Stars' 2-1 win in Nashville Oct. 18, the only regulation loss the Predators have taken at home this season. But he entered the game with a 3.31 goals-against average and a poor .889 save percentage, and neither mark trended in a positive direction.

After a mostly even first period in terms of shots and chances, Nashville got the first goal when Subban made a pretty cross-ice feed to Filip Forsberg in the left faceoff circle. Forsberg pumped a wrister off the left goalpost that struck Lehtonen's leg and found the twine at 14:52, just Forsberg's second goal of the season.

While Forsberg leads the team in points with 15, the lack of goals have caused some concern, so he was happy to get back on the board.

"It was a really good play by Subby," Forsberg said. "All I had to do was hit the net."

Mike Fisher made it 2-0 at 16:06 of the second period with a goal that might have drawn Ruff's ire, coming around the net from left to right and flipping a shot that somehow made it through Lehtonen and just over the goal line.

The goal was originally waved off by referee Kelly Sutherland, but the Situation Room in Toronto reversed the call after seeing the puck cross the goal line. It was Fisher's fourth goal of the season.

Dallas finally found a way to beat Rinne, Patrick Sharp doing it on a wrister at 5:32 of the third period with teammate Patrick Eaves in the box for boarding. The short-handed goal drew the Stars within 2-1 and quieted the raucous crowd.

However, the Predators regained momentum 37 seconds later when Ryan Johansen scored his second goal of the season, 12 seconds before Eaves' penalty was to end. Left all alone in the slot to take James Neal's centering pass, Johansen shoveled a shot that went off and over Lehtonen into the net.

Craig Smith iced the game at 11:09 with a tap-in goal after a giveaway by rookie defenseman Julius Honka gave Nashville a rare 3-on-0 in front of Lehtonen.

Brett Ritchie's rebound goal at 18:44 pulled Dallas (8-8-5) within 4-2, but Neal capped the scoring with an empty-net goal, his eighth goal in nine games and ninth of the season.

Predators coach Peter Laviolette said the game was another step in the right direction for his squad, which is 6-2-1 in its last nine games.

"I thought we did a better job in the third period of just taking more shots and getting the puck to the net," he said. "You spend time in the O-zone, you feel better about things. We played a simpler game and got the puck to the net."

NOTES: Dallas D John Klingberg drew back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch Monday night because he showed up late for a meeting before morning skate. ... Nashville RW Miikka Salomaki (upper-body injury) practiced and might be closer to returning. He has missed the last 16 games. ... The Stars scratched LW Curtis McKenzie and Ds Patrik Nemeth and Stephen Johns. ... Predators scratches were C Cody Bass and D Matt Carle, who were placed on waivers.