When Pred Nation checks out the standings when they wake up this morning, they will get a smile as they note the Predators are leading the central division and the western conference. Good golly what a run this team is on. After last night’s uneven 4-0 win in Edmonton, you know the hockey gods are smiling on this Nashville Predators team. Why do I say that? Consider this… the Edmonton Oilers appeared to have righted the ship after a solid road trip, and they get a shutout pushed on them… from Nashville’s backup goaltender.
Juuse Saros was spectacular last night earning a franchise record 46 save shutout over the high powered Oilers. The Preds needed Saros to be big as they came out flat in the first period. How flat? Welllll… they were outshot 22-4, and I am not sure that accurately describes the total domination Edmonton displayed in the first period. The Predators went to the room knowing that they were lucky to be tied… the Oilers were talking to themselves trying to solve Saros.
Then the hockey gods smiled as the Predators scored four goals on their next nine shots in the second period. Pontus Aberg got it going with a sweet tip in of a Mattias Ekholm shot from the point... the first shot of the period. Kevin Fiala upped the lead to 2-0 when he notched a power play goal, burying a rebound on the third shot of the period less than six minutes later. The FiST line struck again when Kyle Turris went top shelf off a fluky bounce in the slot. Six minutes after that, Roman Josi converted on a tough angle shot while the Preds were on a 5-on-3 to close out the scoring for the period… and the game.
It was all Juuse Saros in the third, and you saw the Oilers frustration rising with each passing save, each turnover, each hit. This Oilers team may have deserved a better fate last night… but I don’t know if that is fair to the performance Saros put in.
Check out the Saros highlight reel…
After a rough start, Juuse Saros seems to have it on lock over his last four starts, going 3-0-1. That should quiet the talk of “we need to go get a backup…”
The Preds move on to Calgary for tomorrow night’s matchup with the Flames which completes a three game in four day Western Canada swing. Nashville returns home post game and is back in Smashville for a Tuesday showdown with the Winnipeg Jets and a Thursday matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes before finishing off their pre-holiday schedule in Dallas on Saturday. town this week for two before heading to Dallas on Saturday night.
Here are the game highlights…
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Random Notes
- Kevin Fiala’s goal last night was his 4th goal in his last 5 games… add in 3 assists in that span.
- Blocked shots from Nashville limited the SOG to 46… they had 29 blocked shots.
- Nashville’s record in second half of back-to-backs is now up to 3-1-0.
- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team is back in action on Monday as they take on Lada. Tolvanen has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in 39 games.
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