DETROIT – Scott Hartnell scored in the second period and the Nashville Predators beat Detroit 3-2, keeping the one-goal lead they had when the game was suspended in November after Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer collapsed on the bench with cardiac arrest.

Although the teams played a full 60-minute game Monday night, Nashville started with a 1-0 advantage on Greg Johnson’s goal from the game at Detroit on Nov. 21 that was stopped with 7:30 left in the first period.

The game resumed on a date originally scheduled to be Nashville’s home game against Detroit. The Predators will play that home game against the Red Wings on March 30.

Fischer, who attends occasional games and practices, is being treated with medicine, is undergoing regular tests and has not been cleared to play. The team has not given a timetable for the 25-year-old Czech’s return.

The Predators are 5-0-3 in their last eight games, pulling within of one point of the Western Conference-leading Red Wings. Detroit had won four straight.

Nashville’s Tomas Vokoun made 39 saves and Manny Legace stopped just 12 shots for the Red Wings. The Red Wings pulled Legace in the final minute, but still could not get a shot past Vokoun.

Nashville took a 2-0 lead – on its first shot – early in the first period when Steve Sullivan scored on a breakaway.

Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk scored on a rebound 40 seconds into the second period, and Mathieu Schneider made it 2-all at 5:15 of the second.

Hartnell, standing in front of Legace, redirected Kimmo Timonen’s shot from the top of the left circle at 9:30 of the second period and the Predators held on for the victory.

Notes: The Red Wings and Predators – the top two teams in the Central Division by a large margin – played their second of eight games, and will play three more times before the Olympic break next month. … Both teams began the game with only one loss in regulation in the division.

AP-ES-01-23-06 2216EST