Nashville Predators Narrowly Escape With Victory over Dallas
By Chad Minton
The roles reversed for the Nashville Predators as they were the team trying to hold back a furious comeback from the opposition.
The Dallas Stars nearly sent the Predators to another loss by scoring three unanswered goals over the last seven and a half minutes of regulation. It went from preserving Pekka Rinne‘s 60th career shutout to just getting out of Dallas with two critical points.
This game was wild from the start, and there was plenty of physicality to it as you would expect when these two teams face off. Both teams came into the matchup struggling badly and plummeting in the division standings.
Nashville Predators seize control early on
The Predators struck first a little over 15 minutes into the game when Filip Forsberg shot a laser from far out which was then deflected by Mikael Granlund.
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The pairing of Forsberg and Granlund continues to yield strong results that the Predators can lean on for the rest of the season. Granlund in particular was locked in from start to finish in this game.
Calle Jarnkrok would quickly get another goal for the Predators for his sixth goal of the season. It’s rare, but the Predators were heading to the 1st intermission with a multi-goal lead.
The following period was when things would really ramp up for both teams. The Predators power play, which has been red-hot recently and is now top-20 in the NHL, got another goal off of Eeli Tolvanen.
Here’s the absolute sniper from Tolvanen courtesy of NHL.com:
Tolvanen now has four power play goals on the season, while Forsberg has seven power play assists.
The goal from Tolvanen came at a critical moment as the Predators just had a goal overturned due for goalie interference. Seeing them not be denied and getting the goal quickly thereafter was refreshing to see.
The Predators were cruising right along heading into the final period, but the Stars wouldn’t go away quietly. They battled hard and eventually tied the game at 3-3 with less than 60 seconds left in regulation.
After the overtime frame went scoreless, the Predators were in search of getting the two points through the shootout. Forsberg would tally in the second frame, and then Roman Josi would score the game-winner on a nifty move that left the net wide open for him.
Other takeaways
Rinne is really having to be relied upon heavily with Juuse Saros being on IR. You have to wonder if we’re about to see Kasimir Kaskisuo get his first career NHL start in the coming week.
With another two assists in this game, Forsberg now has three-straight games of logging two assists. He’s got 26 points on the season through 25 games. Last season through 25 games he had 22 points.
With just 20 shots on goal in this game, the Predators had to come out of this game feeling fortunate to manage three goals.
The Predators are now 11-14-0 on the season for 22 points. They sit in sixth place in the division, and still have a lot of ground to make up before they can even sniff a fourth-place spot, which the Chicago Blackhawks currently hold with 31 points.
Next up for the Predators will be a gauntlet as they have two-game sets against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Tampa Bay Lightning, beginning on Tuesday in Carolina.