Saros makes 24 saves, Predators defeat Sharks
Stops penalty shot in third period to preserve lead; San Jose 0-4-1 in past five
by Robby Stanley / NHL.com Independent Correspondent
NASHVILLE -- Juuse Saros made 24 saves, including a penalty shot in the third period, for the Nashville Predators in a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
Saros, who came within 1:58 of a shutout, preserved a 1-0 lead when he made a save against Barclay Goodrow on a penalty shot at 9:05 of the third period.
Calle Jarnkrok had a goal and an assist for Nashville (14-10-5), which is 5-1-2 in its past eight games.
[WATCH: All Sharks vs. Predators highlights]
"[Saros] was great," Predators captain Roman Josi said. "In the third, they had a penalty shot and I think two other breakaways. He was great all game when they had some huge chances, and he made the saves."
Timo Meier scored for San Jose (15-16-2), which is 0-4-1 in its past five games. Martin Jones made 29 saves.
Video: SJS@NSH: Saros robs Burns' shorthanded chance
The Sharks finished 0-3-1 on their four-game road trip.
"Maybe our best game of the trip," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "Having said that, you've got to find a way to win. We've got to find a way to score; that's the story of the trip. The last three games, one goal, one goal, and one tonight, and that was with the goalie [pulled]."
Nick Bonino gave the Predators a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:24 of the third period on a shot from the slot. Bonino leads Nashville with 12 goals this season.
"Obviously the scoring this year is great, but there's so many little things [Bonino] does," Josi said. "Every time he's out there, you know he's doing his job. He wins face-offs, he's great defensively, he's great offensively. He kind of does it all for us."
Video: SJS@NSH: Bonino converts Granlund's pass for PPG
Goodrow was awarded his first NHL penalty shot when he was slashed by Filip Forsberg on a shorthanded breakaway. Saros made the save on Goodrow's wrist shot to preserve the one-goal lead.
"I tried to go five-hole; he squeezed the pads there," Goodrow said.
Ryan Johansen made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:59 when he drove to the net and scored on a rebound of his own shot.
"It was a great team win, back-and-forth pretty much the whole game," Johansen said. "They had their chances, [Saros] made some huge saves. We hit a couple in the third and found a way to get some goals and close out the win."
Video: SJS@NSH: Johansen doubles the lead with PPG
Meier ended Saros' shutout at 18:02 on a rebound from the crease to make it 2-1, and Jarnkrok scored an empty-net goal with 42 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.
"I think we had a really good effort today," Saros said. "Defense was good. We battled really hard, so it was fun to play behind them."
Video: SJS@NSH: Meier puts in rebound from the doorstep
They said it
"We've got to score more than one or two to win these games. We had chances tonight; we had breakaways, we had good looks, we had a penalty shot. It's unfortunate that we weren't able to score one because we got one at the end there [that] would've tied it up, but we created some good looks." -- Sharks captain Logan Couture
"This was a playoff game out there; it had that feel to it. We're trying to fight our way up, and they're coming from games where they wish they were having more success. When that happens inside of a room, things get ratcheted up with intensity and that's the way it felt on the ice. There wasn't a lot of room; it was hard-fought out there, but not an up-and-down game that had a lot of chances, especially early on. I was really happy with the way we stuck to it and actually got back to it in the third period. I thought they took it to us a little bit in the second and third." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette
Need to know
San Jose was outscored 17-5 on the road trip. … Predators forward Mikael Granlund returned after missing two games with a lower-body injury. … Nashville has won consecutive games at home for the first time since Oct. 24 and Oct. 29. The Predators defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-4 on Saturday.
What's next
Sharks: Host the New York Rangers on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, MSG, NHL.TV)
Predators: At the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-TN, NHL.TV)