They’re back in.
The Nashville Predators scored three times in the first period and added three more in the third to defeat the San Jose Sharks by a 6-3 final on Saturday night at SAP Center. The result sees the Preds reach the 81-point mark and leapfrog the Sharks back into the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference standings.
Filip Forsberg tallied twice, while Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, Erik Haula and Tyson Jost also found the back of the net to combine with a 24-save performance from Juuse Saros in the latest iteration of the biggest game of the Nashville season.
“I think just the resiliency that we've shown - obviously, we prefer not to give up a three-goal lead and have to fight back to win, but when we have to, we’ve been able to do that a few times,” Forsberg said. “It shows a lot of strength in the group.”
“Proud of the group,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I mean, kind of been built for this. It’s 3-3 going into the third period, blow a little bit of lead, go through some adversity, and then we hung them together like we did all year. There's a lot of belief right now, and I thought the third period kind of got back to our game. It was pretty evident, when we do certain things, the kind of team we can be.”
Forsberg’s first of the night came on the power play with a one-timer that beat former Preds goaltender Yaroslav Askarov at the 8:38 mark, and then just over a minute later, he knocked in a Matthew Wood rebound to put the Preds up by two.
Stamkos extended that lead with a power-play marker of his own to close out the opening frame, but the Sharks scored twice late in the second stanza to cut the Nashville lead to one through 40 minutes.
San Jose tied the game just over a minute into the final frame, but that was as close as they came. First, Luke Evangelista found O’Reilly in front for what proved to be the game-winner, and Haula added a shorthanded marker for some much needed insurance.
“Everybody paddled hard today, and they all had their turns where they were in heavy water and they dug in,” Brunette said. “Even the kids, they brought some energy when they had the opportunity. Obviously, late in the game, the bench got a little shorter, but I think everybody stepped their game up in the third period, and it was a big win for us.”
Jost sealed the victory with an empty-netter late in regulation to finish off his three-point third period performance, and the Predators dug in to find a massive two points when they needed them most.
“I think we knew this trip was going to be a really important one, obviously playing pretty much every team on this trip is somebody we're trying to chase,” Forsberg said. “Taking care of business so far, but another massive match again on Monday, and just really all we can focus on is that next one.”
Now, the Preds will head back to Los Angeles to face the Kings for the second time on the trip, and the anticipation has already begun as the playoff race continues for a team that simply refuses to give in.
“Excited - I mean, it's the best time of year to play hockey,” Brunette said. “Get to go into another hard building and play a team we had just played two nights ago, and it's the best time of year to play and we're excited for that challenge.”
Notes:
Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged on Saturday with Ryan Ufko and Ozzy Wiesblatt serving as healthy scratches.
Preds defenseman Nic Hague left Saturday’s game due to injury and did not return.
The Predators will now head back to Southern California to face the Los Angeles Kings again on Monday before heading to Anaheim for a date with the Ducks on Tuesday.
