Strong Start, Stronger Finish Leads Preds to Win Against Islanders

Filip Forsberg scored twice and the Nashville Predators claimed a 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. It's the second consecutive win for the Preds - and fourth in five tries on the campaign - to give them a clean sweep of the season series with the Isles.
A three-goal output from the Preds in the first period saw the Islanders add two of their own in the second, but Nashville's effort in the third - including their first two power-play goals of the season - is what left a lasting impression when the night was done.
"We played a really good first period, and I think we caught them a little bit," Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "Sometimes when that happens the opposition wakes up and you could go a little bit flat. We started to do the wrong things with the puck in the second period… The response after the second period was very good. We played a much tighter game, a better brand of hockey that can find us success."

It took more than 15 minutes into the first, but then the goals came fast and furious as Calle Jarnkrok, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson all tallied before the period was over to give the Predators a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes. In particular, Forsberg roofed a shot to finish off a 2-on-1 with Ryan Johansen, and then Johansen one-handed a feed to Arvidsson for his third of the season and an exclamation point to finish the frame.

But, the second period belonged to the Islanders, with Brock Nelson and Andrew Ladd bringing their team back to within one.
"We have a lot of skill on our team, and I feel like that showed in the first," Arvidsson said. "We just have to manage our skill, too. In the second, we have to play a simple game sometimes, and that hurt us a little bit. We managed to cool off and then get a win."
Nashville clamped down in the final stanza, however, and Kyle Turris converted on the man advantage before Forsberg added his second of the night, this time into an empty net, to seal the fourth victory of the season.

"We just wanted to get back to the things we were doing in the first period - manage the puck a little better and play good defense," Johansen said. "That's what we were able to do, and when we needed Juuse [Saros], he was there to make some big saves. It was a good team effort in the third."
Saros earned his second win of the season - both against the Islanders - by making 20 saves on the evening.
With two wins in a row after a slow start to the homestand, the Preds have another chance at two points on Monday against Minnesota - and Saturday's effort leads one to believe they may find success once again.
"There's no guarantee with anything," Laviolette said. "We're best served just to focus on ourselves and our start and how we play."

Firewagon First:
It seemed as if it was coming, the Predators creating chance after chance through the first 15 minutes of the game. In the next five, they exploded.
First, it was Calle Jarnkrok who slid home a rebound, then Filip Forsberg went top shelf, and finally, Viktor Arvidsson blasted one home from the circle - all within a span of 4:25 - to give the Predators a decisive advantage, and one that was necessary by night's end.
"It was a good start," Laviolette said. "You could tell that our guys were skating well, that they were on point, that they played a simple north game and they were delivering pucks to the net - then anything is possible from there."
It won't happen often, but three pucks to the twine in rapid succession is something this team is more than capable of with the firepower up front, and when it goes off, it's hard to stop.

"We always talk about good starts," Johansen said. "Once you get a goal, you want to get the next one too. We did a good job of continuing to go out there shift after shift and set the pace."
Those last two goals in the first came courtesy of feeds from Ryan Johansen, finding his wingers with pinpoint accuracy. When that's the case, the snipers have the ability to finish more often than not.
"I saw Ryan try to beat his guy, and I tried to find that open space," Arvidsson said. "He managed to get it to me again, and I tried to rip it as hard as I could."
"He's been awesome," Forsberg said of Johansen. "He is a very big, strong guy and we are very fortunate to have him on our team and on the line. I just try to get open and wait for him, really."
Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Notes:
With an assist on Viktor Arvidsson's goal, Dan Hamhuis has his first point as a member of the Preds since April 1, 2010.
The Preds have earned at least a point in six of their last seven meetings with New York (4-1-1).
Nashville's homestand concludes on Monday night when the Minnesota Wild pay a visit, and then the Preds will head to Alberta for a back-to-back set in Calgary and Edmonton next weekend.