Juuse Saros made 31 saves as the Nashville Predators defeated the Colorado Avalanche by a 2-1 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds bookend the two-week break with a pair of victories as they finish the season series with a 2-1-1 record against the Avs.
Justin Barron and Jonathan Marchessault tallied for Nashville in the win, and Saros was excellent all night long as the Predators began their final 28 outings with a satisfying result.
“It was obviously not the cleanest game at times, and they had some looks…but I thought [Saros] played great for us,” Preds defenseman Luke Schenn said. “We’re trying to commit to playing the right way. Obviously, we understand what the standings are, but we have a lot of pride in this room, and we just want to continue to build and play for one another and just give an honest effort.”
“We played a good team game, a full 60 minutes,” Barron said. “A little rusty in the first period, but that's going to come with two weeks off. I thought we did a good job throughout the game getting back to our identity and did a good job in the third period. The boys came up with some big blocks and [Saros] stood on his head and played really well.”
After neither club found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes, Colorado struck first when Sam Malinski tallied early in the second stanza. But, just 30 seconds later, Colton Sissons found Barron at the point, and the Nashville blueliner blasted a shot past former Preds goaltender Scott Wedgewood to even the game at 1-1.
That score held into the final frame when Schenn’s slapper from the point missed the net, but carromed perfectly off the endboards to Marchessault at the side of the net where the winger neatly tucked the puck over the line for what proved to be the game-winner.
“In all honesty, I was going for a shot on goal,” Schenn said when asked if he purposely shot the puck off the boards to Marchessault. “It feels like breaks and bounces have been tough to come by this year, and I'll take that. Luckily, [Marchessault] has quick hands in front to put her home.”
The Avalanche pressed late, and they hit the post with three minutes to play, but Saros and his defensemen got the job done, including a late shot block from Roman Josi to start the back-to-back set with two points.
“I thought it was a committed win,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We knew [with] a break, it's going to be a little bit sloppy, but I thought we really committed to managing the puck and limiting their quick strike, their rush offense. That has caused us problems, and that's caused us problems all year…but I thought it was a real gutsy, committed win.”
Nashville will now prepare to host New Jersey less than 24 hours from now, and as the Preds embark on the back half of their season, there was certainly some good on Saturday to take with them moving forward.
“Obviously, the year's been up and down…and we’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of pride in this locker room and a great leadership group,” Barron said. “For us, we're going to keep playing with that playoff mindset right until the end of the year, and [we’re] trying to keep building this culture here into a winning culture again.”
“It's something we can build off of,” Brunette said. “It was a real positive win for our group, and I think it's something that [the players] want down the stretch of games here that we’ve got to find and build. We want to make sure our culture is set here going forward.”
Notes:
Defenseman Andreas Englund made his Predators debut on Saturday after being claimed on waivers from Los Angeles. The blueliner registered two shots and four hits in 14:35 of ice time in the win.
“I thought he had really good chemistry [with] Barron,” Brunette said of Englund. “I thought he played to his identity. I know he hasn't played a lot of hockey. There's some things I'm sure he feels he can clean up. He’s a type that we don't have a lot of - big and physical - and he plays a safe, heavy game. I thought that was all on display tonight.”
Forward Kieffer Bellows and defenseman Jake Livingstone, both of whom were recalled yesterday from Milwaukee, were Nashville’s healthy scratches on Saturday.
The Predators will continue their four-game homestand tomorrow evening when the New Jersey Devils come to town for another 5 p.m. CT puck drop. Nashville will then host Florida and Winnipeg later this week before heading to New York next weekend.
