MTL-W2

Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Tommy Novak each had a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators rolled to a 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday at Bridgestone Arena.
Cody Glass got things started early, getting his stick on a \Ekholm point shot on the power play to make it 1-0 at 4:10 of the first period. Minutes later, Filip Forsberg set up Colton Sissons, fired a wrist shot home to make it a 2-0 game.

The Preds padded their lead further just over halfway through the first frame as Ekholm ripped a slap shot through traffic to make it 3-0. With under a minute remaining in the period, Cole Caufield chased down a turnover and went top shelf on a breakaway to cut Nashville's lead to 3-1 heading into the first intermission.
Josh Anderson fired a shot past Juuse Saros to bring the Habs within one at 6:40 of the second period, but Novak answered with a goal of his own to restore Nashville's two-goal lead at 8:18. Later in the frame, a cross-ice pass from Novak found Josi in the left circle, where the captain launched a wrist shot past Sam Montembeault to extend the Preds lead to 5-2.
Matt Duchene made it 6-2 at 4:43 of the third period on a one-timer from the right circle on a 5-on-3 power play. Brendan Gallagher scored for Montreal on a cross-crease pass at 16:59 for the 6-3 final.
Playing in his 250th career NHL game, Saros made 24 saves in goal for the Predators (16-14-6).

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Glasser Gets It Done
Skating in his 100th career NHL game, Glass was the first Predators player to get on the board with a power-play goal in the first period. Glass now has four points (3a-1g) in his last six games dating back to Dec. 21 at Chicago.

MTL@NSH: Glass starts scoring in 1st period

Fil Stays Hot
With an assist on Sissons' goal in the first period, Forsberg extended his point streak to four games (5g-3a) dating back to Dec. 27 vs. Dallas. Forsberg was recently named the NHL's First Star for the week ending Jan. 1 and leads Nashville in points this season with 33 (15g-18a), including 30 points (13g-17a) in his last 29 games dating back to Oct. 22 vs. Philadelphia.

MTL@NSH: Sissons doubles Predators' lead in 1st

Tommy Frosty
With a goal and an assist in the second period, Novak now has five points (3g-2a) in his last six games dating back to Dec. 21 at Chicago. Novak's two-point performance vs. Montreal marked the second multi-point game of his NHL career (3a on Oct. 23, 2021 at Winnipeg).

MTL@NSH: Novak scores in 2nd period

THEY SAID IT

Glass on the Win:
"We knew they were gonna have a push. They are a very [good] offensive team and very skilled. So we kind of just wanted to maintain that and just play in their zone. Obviously we got some nice bounces, got some net front goals and it was a good feeling. You know, there's not very many games that we've had that we can score like that. So it was nice to get that tonight and obviously we have a very tough schedule coming up. So if we can keep that going that would be good."
Nino Niederreiter on Gaining Momentum on Offense:
"It's definitely big. We haven't been scoring a lot of goals and obviously in Anaheim and even Vegas - and now tonight - I feel like the goals are coming throughout the lineup and I feel like we do a better and better job each and every night… Everybody's on the same page right now. I mean, we know exactly what we need to do and we know where we stand in the standings, and it's about winning hockey games right now. And I think that's been clicking in everyone's head - we've got to get wins soon to climb the ladder."
Ekholm on Nashville's Power Play:
"Well tonight we shot the puck - that was huge. Obviously, Cody did a great job at the netfront and then he did that on the second goal as well, we got a fortunate tip. But usually when you shoot the puck, good things happen. Our power play last year was probably, in my opinion, the biggest reason why we got into the playoffs, so we need to get it going and we have the same personnel so we can do it. It's just a matter of getting some confidence again and getting some goals, because that's ultimately what gets you confidence up. So it's nice to see them go in a little bit. It's too bad one of them was a couple seconds on the wrong side of it, but other than that I thought we did a good job on the power play."
Head Coach John Hynes on Nashville's Recent Offensive Surge:
"I think that we've really worked on the process here pretty heavily, I'd say for about three and a half weeks to a month. I think you know, like in anything when something's a little bit stagnant or you're in a little bit of a rut, sometimes you don't just jump right out of it, you take steps and we've had a lot of emphasis on it in video, one-on-one meetings practice time. I think we all felt internally that it was even two or three weeks ago that it was turning and our game was going in the right direction as far as that. We were generating more looks, but the execution wasn't as good and now, we're generating looks. We're in those situations more and the guys are, they have some good the execution is better as well. But I also think the chance generation and creating offense in multiple ways that's something that we've really stressed and I think we're doing a good job whether it's off the rush, offensive zone, we've done a better job getting to the net front zone, one area. That's how you have to be a good team, a hard team to play against and you can generate in different ways."
Hynes on Nashville's Depth Scoring:
"Well it's important. I think when you have that it's a recipe to be able to win regularly where it doesn't put so much pressure on certain guys to be able to score. I think when you have depth scoring and your lineup it certainly gives your team the best chance to win on a regular basis. I think it also creates internal competition. I think when you have guys and we feel like we have four lines that are playing well. I think that creates that internal competition because if you want to get the ice time and you want to play you have to be able to keep up with the group and the groups that are playing really well. I think for multiple fronts it's really truly what you want in a team."

Condensed Game: Canadiens @ Predators

UP NEXT

The Preds will embark on a five-game road trip against Eastern Conference opponents, beginning with a visit to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Puck drops at 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.