Rising Nashville Predator: Tommy Novak is Sparking the Offense

Nashville Predators forward Tommy Novak has been nothing short of a concrete piece to the lineup since being recalled back on Dec. 27.

The Predators have scored 18 goals since recalling Novak and as a team scored 29 goals in the last eight games.

Novak had one of his best games in a gold sweater putting up two points against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday evening. His second multi-point performance of his NHL career as the Predators took down the Canadiens 6-3.

Nashville Predators Finding Their Rhythm 

A wire-to-wire comfortable win for the Nashville Predators doesn’t come very often. They pulled off the resounding win over the Canadiens on Tuesday night.

“Yea it was a great job by my linemates all night [Trenin & Jeannot] they were working hard down low and trying to get me a really nice pass there and I was able to put it in and it felt good,” Novak said of his goal against Montreal.

Since being called up Novak has put up six points in seven games with Nashville. Cody Glass has played in 26 games garnering 10 points in 27 games.

Head Coach John Hynes has really been pleased with the play of both Novak and Glass recently.

“It comes down to players being ready, You can’t force people into the NHL. That’s why there’s an American Hockey League, we knew they were good players. Lots of guys have the talent to play in the league, but it comes down to the ability to handle it physically night in and night out and handle it mentality.” -John Hynes on the Play of Novak and Glass

“Some of the things they’ve been able to do is they can handle the competitiveness of the NHL as two centermen they do a good job defensively and trust them in those situations like that. That’s all part of guys developing into NHL players that are good offensive players and now you’re seeing the results.”

In Novak’s four games since being called up to the Predators, he’s played on the first line once and then the fourth line the other three games. Tanner Jeannot has played the right wing on his line for the last three games.

Despite now being on the Nashville Predators active roster, Novak still leads the Milwaukee Admirals with 26 points in 25 games.

“Yea they definitely wanted to have a bounce-back game and our focus was to not allow that,” Novak said. “We wanted to come out hard in the first period and compete as hard as we could and take the game over.”

Prior to his call-up from Milwaukee, Novak had seven multi-point games with the Admirals. The former University of Minnesota forward has been seizing his opportunities when they’ve been presented.

The Predators will hit the road for five games going up against the Hurricanes, Capitals, Senators, Maple Leafs, and end the trip with a rematch against the Canadiens.

“Just doing the things we did well and keep building on them and keep playing like how we know we should,” Novak said in regards to the Predators road trip.