Welcome back, Smashville.
The Nashville Predators erased a two-goal deficit in the third period before Ryan McDonagh netted his first overtime goal in Gold to hand the home team a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.
Additionally fueled by a slew of two-point performances from Ryan O’Reilly (1g-1a), Filip Forsberg (1g-1a) Tommy Novak (1g-1a), Roman Josi (1g-1a), Gustav Nyquist (2a) and the overtime hero himself (1g-1a), the Predators were able to make a statement and grab a key two points in their first game back from the All-Star break.
“[We were] just assertive, just confident,” McDonagh said. “[We were] stepping up, making some big hits, taking away time and space. And we've talked about it coming out of the break here. That's got to be one of our identities. There's just no time and space for teams, we can skate with anybody and when we're doing that, we get plenty of looks offensively and that should be enough to win games.”
The result moves Nashville to 27-23-2 on the campaign and 14-13-0 at home.
QUICK HITS
For Smashville
The Predators first game back from the All-Star break was a Saturday Night in Smashville in every sense, with a raucous Bridgestone Arena crowd boosting the home team to a big win at an even bigger time of year.
“I hope as a group we felt or understood this big time of year and the crowd,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “We got them energized, but they energized us in a lot of different ways. And this is a fun atmosphere. I've played both sides. I’ve played here as a player on the home team and a player on the visiting team. And with this crowd, when you're doing things and they get behind you, it's a hard place to play in and it's a fun place when you're on the team that the crowd’s behind. So, hopefully we can maybe learn from that and use that to our advantage going forward.”
“For myself, that was kind of my first time really experiencing that here [as a Predator] and it was awesome,” O’Reilly said. “Just to see everyone on their feet and showing support, and for us to go and get the win too was awesome. It's a great feeling and hopefully that'll be there a lot more.”
Happy Filbruary
Forsberg’s third-period equalizer was his 25th of the season and saw the forward tie Nicklas Lidstrom, Thomas Steen and former Predators forward Patric Hornqvist for ninth place on the NHL’s all-time goals list among Swedish-born players.
Assisting O’Reilly’s opening goal, Forsberg additionally recorded his 300th career assist and became the fourth player in Predators history to reach the milestone, joining Roman Josi (478), David Legwand (356) and Martin Erat (318).
Of course, that’s all in a day’s work for Nashville’s All-Star.
“He was great,” Josi said. “I thought he was a force out there. He was creating chances… He was normal Fil and it was a really good game for him. And obviously [300 assists] is a big milestone, so it’s pretty cool.”
Forsberg (668 GP) became the second-fastest skater among that group to reach the milestone, behind only Josi (627 GP); Erat and Legwand required 680 and 821 contests, respectively.
Improvements on the Power Play
Scoring on a 4-on-3 advantage, Josi netted Nashville’s first power-play goal since Jan. 20. Just over 12 minutes later, Novak tacked on another PPG.
“It was huge,” Josi said. “I think we’ve been struggling on the power play and I think you can see tonight you score two on the power play and it's a different game. It gives you a chance to win every game… We’ve got to keep that going.”
“We've been aware of its percentages and whatnot, but we're doing the right things, we've got the right attitude,” McDonagh said. “Everybody's working hard to put the pieces in place there. And it feels good. Hopefully the floodgates can stay open here. We're going to need special teams to be crucial here as we keep going.”
The production was an encouraging sign for the Preds PP unit, which had gone 20 chances without a goal entering Saturday’s contest.
UP NEXT
The Predators continue their three-game homestand on Tuesday when they face the New Jersey Devils during Captains’ Night Presented By Hunt Brothers Pizza. Click here to get tickets.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT with the game set to broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.
NOTES
- McDonagh’s OT-winner was the third overtime goal of his career, his first as a Nashville Predator and his first since March 24, 2014 against the Coyotes.
- Josi’s second-period PPG made him the third skater in franchise history to record at least 60 career power-play goals, joining Shea Weber (80) and Forsberg (65).
- O’Reilly’s first-period goal was the forward’s first since Jan. 18 at Los Angeles and his first even-strength marker since Dec. 5 at Chicago.
- Nyquist recorded his 27th assist of the season and his second in as many games on O’Reilly’s first-period goal.
- Dante Fabbro and Denis Gurianov were scratched and did not skate in Saturday’s game.
