Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists Wednesday night as the Nashville Predators closed their disappointing season with a 5-1 rout over the visiting Dallas Stars, who limp into the playoffs on a seven-game losing streak.Jordan Oesterle and Jonathan Marchessault each recorded a goal and an assist, while Juuse Saros made 29 saves for the Predators (30-44-8, 68 points).Back after missing 58 games due to a hip injury, Dallas’ Tyler Seguin assisted on Mason Marchment’s goal less than 20 seconds into the game. The Stars (50-26-6, 106 points), who went 0-for-6 on the power play Wednesday, finished second in the Central Division and will host Colorado in the first round of the playoffs. They have allowed 34 goals during their 0-5-2 slide.While Dallas got Seguin back, Jason Robertson, second on the team with 80 points and among the NHL’s top players, exited in the second period with a lower-body injury.Just 16 seconds into the contest, Matt Duchene fluttered a pass near the front of the net to Marchment, who sent it by Saros. But it was all Predators from there.Nashville answered with 6:58 remaining in the first. Oesterle’s shot benefited from a redirect off Stars forward Mavrik Bourque’s and by a seemingly unsuspecting Adam Oettinger, who stopped 17 of 22 shots through two periods before giving way to backup Casey DeSmith (12 saves).
