Filip Forsberg and Juuse Saros starred in the shootout as the Nashville Predators beat the Utah Hockey Club by a 4-3 final on Thursday night at Delta Center. The result gives the Preds a victory in their first-ever visit to Utah to begin their final road trip of the season - and their second win against Utah in as many tries.
After a six-game skid, the Predators needed at least overtime for the second straight game, and following a thrilling 7-6 overtime win on Tuesday against the Islanders, Nashville once again got it done in the extra session before prevailing in the shootout.
“Maybe not the best start, but I thought we got going as the game went on, started playing a little bit smarter with the puck,” Forsberg said. “They're a very fast, skilled transition team, and we were kind of feeding that a little bit much early. But the second and third period was a little bit better. And an unbelievable effort, obviously at the end, by the penalty killers and [Saros] to get us to the shootout.”
“I thought [we were a] little bit slow to the gates,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “They buzzed pretty good in here. Took us a little while to get our legs going. I thought we settled in the game… I always usually like our chances in a shootout. So it's good to get the win.”
Neither team converted in the opening 20 minutes, but in the second stanza, both Nick Bjugstad and Shane Doan scored to give Utah a 2-0 advantage. However, on a late Predators power play in the middle period, Nick Blankenburg’s wrist shot from the point found its way through traffic and past Karel Vejmelka to pull the visitors to within one.
Then, just over a minute into the final period, Forsberg tallied another on the man advantage, and just minutes after that, Ryan O’Reilly gave Nashviille their first lead of the night. Utah countered quickly on a goal from Dylan Guenther, however, and the rest of regulation eventually bled into overtime.
After a massive save from Saros early in the session, Justin Barron, Brady Skjei and the Preds combined to kill a Utah power play late in OT.
“Huge blocks there by [Barron and Skjei] and the rest of those guys,” Blankenburg said. “And you say your best penalty killers might be your goalie, so [Saros] made a lot of great saves tonight, and definitely gave us a chance to win. So a lot of credit to him.”
“That’s what you need,” Forsberg said. “Obviously, those guys that are counted on in those situations, came out clutch and great blocks, great sticks, kind of keeping them on the outside. They really had a lot of chances, and [Saros] was on it.”
Saros then stopped all three Utah shooters before Forsberg beat Vejmelka on a silky backhand to bring the night to a satisfying conclusion.
“It's just a lot of credit to the staff, the guys in the room, there's no quit here,” Blankenburg said. “We’re just trying to build towards something at this point. Obviously we're not making playoffs, so just trying to learn and grow throughout this process. There's definitely something to be learned here this year, so just keep going in these last three.”
Notes:
Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette rejoined the team in Utah after missing two games to care for his father in Ontario after suffering a medical incident.
Nashville will now head to Las Vegas to face the Golden Knights on Saturday for their final road contest of the season.
