Good start, bad second, great third, shootout win… Eight words to describe last night’s 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. The Predators showed solid offensive chances, the power play generated more chances than we have seen in awhile and Juuse Saros was just spectacular again.
A lot of time, the talk is about bounces or puck luck and wow… was last night a clear example of that. The Preds saw the bad bounce, the weird carom, the crazy hop. What I liked about last night’s game was the reaction… especially to giving up two late second period goals. The Preds came out with a head of steam in the third period and dominated play for the most part. Let’s face it… the only reason that game got to overtime was the play of Alex Stalock… he showed some real brilliance at times and in the third period, he came very close to stealing two points for the Wild.
Filip Forsberg was the difference maker last night… he was just a little more relaxed, allowing the game to come to him vs. forcing it… nowhere was that more evident than in the third period. Forsberg was dangerous all over the ice and on the game tying goal, he drew the Wild defense to him… passed it off, then went to where he knew the rebound would be, tapping home the game tying goal past a helpless Stalock.
The overtime was back-and-forth with no real flow saw both teams with chances to close it out, but both teams couldn’t find the handle. Ryan Ellis and Ryan Johansen got tallies in the shootout to give the Preds the win and the bonus point to help them keep pace with Winnipeg.
Nashville takes on Minnesota again tomorrow night, limited tickets remain. The team is back in town for an “easier” week with home games on Tuesday and Saturday… sandwiched in there is the Gnash Vegas Gala on Thursday night.
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The
Where We Stand section
Nashville holds the second spot in the Central Division trailing the Winnipeg Jets by a single point, Winnipeg holds three games in hand over Nashville. The Preds lead St. Louis (3 GIH) by seven points, Dallas and Minnesota by 10 points, Arizona by 12.
Nashville currently holds the 4 seed in the Western Conference playoff race.
Impact Games Tonight – None.
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Random Notes
- Milwaukee Update – The Admirals got March off to a solid start, gathering three out of a possible four points in San Antonio, winning Friday 3-2 in OT, then dropping a 5-4 decision on Sunday in OT. After seven games on the road in the past two weeks, the Ad’s are finally back home for three this week, tomorrow vs. Texas, Fraiday vs. Chicago and Saturday vs. Grand Rapids.
- PK Honesty – Great article from Paul Skrbina in the Tennessean about PK Subban’s season. He is the first one to admit that he hasn’t been great this season… I like that in a player.
- Injured – Brian Boyle missed last night’s game with a lower body injury.
- Minnesota Preds? – You could’ve called last night “old home night” as four ex-Preds suited up for the Wild… not counting their GM.
- Disgrace – I won’t paint all Islander fans with this brush, but the snake and jersey throwing idiots at John Tavares last week is more than a bit over the top.
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