BUFFALO, N. Jace Sternberger Super Bowl Jersey .Y. -- After watching his team fail to hold a big lead in its previous game, Barry Trotz was happy to watch the Predators build another and hold on for a win. "Last night we cheated in a couple areas," Trotz said. "Tonight we managed the puck better. We exited better. All those type of things were much better for us." Nashville scored twice in a five-minute span in the second period on the way to a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. It marked the second straight win for the Predators, who lost a 3-0 advantage in Ottawa on Monday before beating the Senators in overtime. "We werent going to let that happen two games in a row," said Colin Wilson, who had two assists for Nashville. Shea Weber had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who also got goals from Nick Spaling, Craig Smith and Paul Gaustad. Drew Stafford scored for Buffalo, which has lost three in a row. After Nashville built a 3-1 lead, backup goaltender Carter Hutton helped stave off a Buffalo attack that controlled possession and outshot Nashville 11-5 in the second period. "Keeping that two-goal lead going into the third was pretty huge for us, confidence heading out there," Hutton said. "After last night, we knew we were going to lock it down and play our game." Hutton had allowed multiple goals in eight consecutive starts entering the game, but was stout on Tuesday. "Hutton was really good," Trotz said. "He stabilized us when they had a little push." The Predators arrived in Buffalo after 2 a.m. after Mondays game at Ottawa and skipped their morning skate before having to fight off a slow start to Tuesdays game. "It was penalties right off the bat," Trotz said. "First five minutes, we were killing the four. Thats a hard way to get going, especially when youre in back-to-back. Those are hard minutes." An early power play helped Buffalo take a 1-0 lead at 2:09 of the first as Stafford pulled a rebound away from Huttons left pad to score his 12th goal of the season. The goal ended a 0-for-11 slump for the Sabres power play, and came in Staffords 500th career NHL game. Yet aside from Staffords line, Buffalo had trouble generating offence. "There was only one line basically going," Sabres interim head coach Ted Nolan said. "Youre not going to win too many games doing that." Nashvilles equalizer came at the 17:10 mark of the first period, as Spaling used his skate to deflect a Weber shot past Jhonas Enroth. The power-play goal came on Nashvilles only attempt with the man advantage. Tied at 1 after 20 minutes, Weber picked up a drop pass from Wilson and beat Enroth to make it 2-1 at the 3:33 mark of the second. Smith doubled Nashvilles advantage at 7:51. His low slap shot from just in front of the blue line beat Enroth between the legs. The goal was Smiths 20th of the season, a career best. "Its great, a good feeling," Smith said. "We just have to keep moving forward, trying to make a little push here." The game was a shaky one for Enroth, who had played well since Buffalo traded Ryan Miller to St. Louis on Feb. 28. Buffalos Zenon Konopka was challenged to fight by Gaustad at 9:20 of the second after the Sabres forward put an open-ice hit on Viktor Stalberg. Gaustad received a two-minute instigator and 10-minute misconduct in addition to his fighting major. Trotz thought the penalty was questionable, and appreciated Gaustads response. "To me that was a really good glue play," Trotz said. "We thought it was a questionable hit and thats what you want your team to stand up for each other. "Gaustad knows how tough Konopka is, and thats why hes so valuable to us. He brings those intangibles. He does whats right and is very detailed in his game." Hutton made a big save on Tyler Ennis moments later. Stafford worked the puck behind the net before passing to Cody Hodgson, whose high shot was gloved by the Nashville goaltender. "He made a bunch of great saves that kept us in it," Wilson said of Hutton. "It could have been a bit of a different game if they got a couple at the beginning there." The Sabres finished 1 for 4 on the power play. Gaustad added an empty-net goal at the 18:29 mark of the third period to a chorus of boos from a crowd that chanted his nickname "Goose" when he was a Sabre. "We joked about that," Gaustad said. "I didnt know when I was here if they were booing me or saying my name. Some of the best fans and people on Earth. Salt of the earth people." Nashville finishes a three-game road trip on Friday in Chicago, while Buffalo begins a stretch of playing 12 of its next 17 on the road. "Their confidence is a little bit rattled right now," Nolan said. "But through tough times like this you find out true character of certain players and through some ashes sometimes there rises some people." NOTES: Sabres LW Matt Ellis played in his 300th NHL game. ... Patrick Eaves was scratched after going pointless in his first three games with the Predators after being acquired in a trade with Detroit for David Legwand. ... Sabres rookie C Zemgus Girgensons missed his third game with an undisclosed injury. Bart Starr Super Bowl Jersey . CNN and Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Tancredi Palmeri broke the news via Twitter Tuesday afternoon. Italian Football Association President Giancarlo Abete has also resigned, according to Palmeri. Clay Matthews Super Bowl Jersey . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring. http://www.officialgreenbaypackerspro.com/Customized/ . Dane Dobbie and Shawn Evans each had two goals and two assists for the Roughnecks (8-5), who outscored Minnesota 6-2 in the fourth quarter after being tied through 45 minutes. Curtis Dickson scored once and set up three more for Calgary and Dan MacRae, Geoff Snider, Tor Reinholdt, Karsen Leung and Matthew Dinsdale.OROPA, Italy -- Enrico Battaglin sprinted to victory on a tough uphill finish to claim the 14th stage of the Giro dItalia on Saturday as the race hit the first of the high mountains. The Italian came from behind to overtake Jarlinson Pantano in the final 50 metres and edge out Dario Cataldo on the line after a climb to the sanctuary of Oropa, the scene of Marco Pantanis memorable victory in 1999. Pantano finished seven seconds behind. "I didnt believe I could do it until the last kilometre. My legs were at their limits, I was tired too," Battaglin said. "Then I saw that others too were breaking down. Then I gained some meters immediately, I gritted my teeth and I passed them in the last 20 metres. It is a superb win for me, what a fight." Rigoberto Uran of Colombia retained the overall lead but saw his advantage cut on the 164-kilometre (102-mile) route from Aglie. Cadel Evans -- who wore the pink jersey earlier in the race -- gained five seconds and is now 32 seconds behind Uran. Rafal Majka is third overall, 1:35 behind. "We lost a few seconds, but its no worry," Uran said. "The team is doing well, Im calm. But the Giro is still very open." It was the second of three stages dedicated to Pantani, the Italian cyclist who won both the Giro and Tour de France in 1998. He was found dead in a hotel room on Valentines Day in 2004, and a coroner ruled he died from cocaine poisoning. As the Giro entered the final week, the race entered the mountains and Fridays route had four categorized climbs including the steep final ascent. The breakaway of the day was formed of 21 riders but the peloton were happy to let them go, with none of the eescapees less than half an hour behind Uran in the overall standings. Geronimo Allison Super Bowl Jersey. . The first two weeks of the Giro had been littered with crashes on wet roads, and even though the day was dry there was another crash with around 102K (63 miles) remaining as the peloton went through a roundabout. No one was seriously injured but Kanstantsin Siutsou later quit the race. Pieter Weening -- who won the ninth stage -- also retired during the day. The gap to the breakaway group went up to more than 10 minutes because of the crash but was back down to 9:29 at the start of the category 2 climb up to Alpe Noveis. And the peloton had gained more than two minutes at the top of the ascent after a gradient of up to 16 per cent. Nicolas Roche escaped from the break on the highest climb of the day, up the Bielmonte, which has a ski station at the summit. As he crested the top, he had 10 seconds on the remainder of the original break, which was down to 12 cyclists. The Irish cyclist was caught on the descent and Albert Timmer and Manuel Quinziato took over the lead before the latter had a mechanical problem at the start of the final climb. Timmer made an attempt to stay in front but was caught with 2K (1.2 miles) remaining by Cataldo and Pantano and dropped shortly after. Battaglin powered to catch the lead group inside the final kilometre and he surged forward again on the cobbled ramps up to the finish. Strong climbers Nairo Quintana and Domenico Pozzovivo will be looking to gain more time on Uran as the Giro stays in the mountains. Sundays 15th stage is mainly flat before another tough climb up to the finish of the 225K (140-mile) leg from Valdengo to Montecampione. ' ' '