from the left boards and Iginla, crashing the net, tipped it in. Igi

VAL DISERE, France - World Cup leader Tina Wierather of Liechtenstein protected her lead from the first run to win the first giant slalom race of her career on Sunday, her second victory of the season and third of her fast-improving career. "Today was a very great day for me. It was always my dream to be good in GS," Wierather said. "I took quite a long time to get there. It feels awesome to have my first win (in GS)." Wierather leads overall with 595 points from Lara Gut (568), who finished second, and Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany (535). "Its cool to have the chance to fight for it. Its the first time Ive been so consistent. But its only December so Im not thinking about that," Wierather said. "Its just that Ive been healthy for some years now and I could improve a little bit every summer. I feel very strong and feel ready for more than just downhill, but also super-G and GS." Julia Mancuso of the United States did not finish the second run. After winning a super-G race at St. Moritz last weekend, the 24-year-old Wierather secured her third career win and 13th podium finish with an overall time of 2 minutes, 24.10 seconds. "Its a process of many years. I tried to improve my technique, my physical performance. Its like a big puzzle and at the moment it looks like it is working," Wierather said. "I used to play tennis until I was 12. I never liked this battle. In skiing its you against the hill and you see the time. You just fight the hill and not the other girls. Thats what I like about ski racing." Wierather was 0.75 seconds clear of Gut, who was third after the first run, and 0.95 ahead of Swedens Maria Pietilae-Holmner, who had been second. Italian Federica Brignone was fourth, ahead of the former World Cup winner Hoefl-Riesch. Gut has four World Cup wins this season, and five podiums, but had failed to finish the last two GS races. "Its always fun to be on the podium and to make points," the 22-year-old said. "But I was skiing good even in Beaver Creek and St. Moritz before going off course." Pietilae-Holmner, the GS runner-up at the 2007 worlds, secured her first World Cup podium in GS. "Its a perfect Christmas present," the 27-year-old said. "I had two seasons with both knee injury and shoulder injury. Im back without injury so I can put the energy in the right things." World slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin was eighth, improving from her 12th-place finish in slalom at Courchevel on Tuesday. The previous weekend, the 18-year-old had failed to finish another GS in the Swiss resort of St. Moritz. "I was really tired coming from the U.S. to here (Europe). I had to rethink how I was doing things, getting my recoveries and stuff," Shiffrin said. "Before this race I actually got some rest and I felt a lot better today, which means that I just have to ski faster. Im happy with the top 10." She thought that she could have done better, however, with more preparation. "I think the first run was a little bit straighter than I thought it would be from looking at it on inspection. Its a lesson for next time," she said. "I have to be able to see its a little straighter so I can go, because some of the other girls hammered it and they were really fast, and thats where I lost some time." Defending overall champion Tina Maze, who was second in Saturdays downhill, improved in her second run to finish 11th. The Slovenian is still looking for her first win of the season and says she feels mentally tired. "Maybe its the result of the progam I have. Since St. Moritz every day Im in ski boots, skiing and training and its tough to be in shape every day and to concentrate 100 per cent," she said. "I really need two days break now, just to relax a little bit. I think its pretty tiring when youre going up and down and fighting every day to be positive." The 30-year-old Maze looked set for a competitive time but almost fell on her first run. 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That gave goalie Niklas Svedberg a victory in his NHL debut. "Fish knows better than that," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "He cant play as light on guys one-on-one as that." Svedberg stopped 33 shots for Boston, which avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season. Julien said the 24-year-old rookie would go back to the teams AHL affiliate in Providence, R.I., but "hes a guy we need to keep an eye on." "Ever since I started playing, this is where I wanted to be. So Im real happy with this win," Svedberg said. "Its just one game but its real fun to get the win in my first game." Svedberg had been scheduled to play last weekend, but he was sent back to Providence so the Bruins could call up a defenceman after Zdeno Chara needed a night off. Svedbergs mother flew in from Sweden for that game, but his parents couldnt get a flight to Boston this time. "It was a little bit too short of a timeline," he said. "So they were all watching TV back in Sweden."; Viktor Stalberg and Shea Weber scored for Nashville, and Marek Mazanec made 22 saves as the Predators lost for the first time in three games.dddddddddddd "We showed a lot of character getting the point back, because the crowd was into it," Trotz said. "So its a big point. But Im really disappointed that we didnt get the two." The Bruins were lacklustre in the first two periods -- managing just three shots to Nashvilles 16 in the second -- but tied it 1-1 when Boychuk, trailing a 3-on-2, took a drop pass and wristed into the net with 5 minutes gone in the third. The Bruins took the lead with 7 1/2 minutes to play when Milan Lucic centred it from the left boards and Iginla, crashing the net, tipped it in. Iginlas goal, along with assists by Lucic and David Krejci, gave all three a scoring streak of six games. But the Predators tied it less than 2 minutes later when Weber slapped in a rebound after Roman Josi outbattled Marchand for the puck behind the net. Nashville scored first in the second period when Fisher was waiting at the blue line for the long breakout pass and he drew both defenders to him as he skated in on the right side. When his shot bounced off Svedberg into the slot, Stalberg had an open net to shoot at. It was Stalbergs first point in five games and his first goal since Dec. 14. Notes: Svedberg was 13-5-3 with a 2.87 goals-against average in 22 games for Providence of the AHL this season. ... It was Game 1 of a three-game road trip for the Predators. They had previously planned to fly to Florida on Friday for Saturdays game against the Panthers; it was not clear if the snow would affect their plans. ... The Predators had been 15-1-2 when scoring first. ' ' '