Preds Ride Five-Goal First Period to Victory Over Sharks

The Predators have discussed having better starts on at least a few occasions this season. A five-goal first period certainly took care of that desire on Tuesday. 

Six different goal scorers found the back of the net as Nashville defeated the San Jose Sharks by a 6-3 final at Bridgestone Arena. The result extends Nashville’s win streak to five games and gives them 77 points - now seven ahead of the Sharks - to keep hold of the second Wild Card spot in the West. 

Filip Forsberg, Matthew Wood, Roman Josi, Luke Evangelista and Brady Skjei all tallied in the opening 20 minutes - just the second time in Preds franchise history they’ve scored five in the first period - and that was more than enough to secure a victory.

“I thought everyone came ready to play,” Forsberg said. “We were getting rewarded too, which is nice, but I thought we did a lot of the right things - getting on their defensemen, getting pucks back, creating plays off the rush as well, which is huge for us, and obviously set the tone for the rest of the game.”

“I really liked our mindset in the first period,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we got off on the right foot. We've had so many of these conversations here in this room about not starting right. I thought we started on time, and we got to our game pretty quick. I thought we executed the game plan, especially in the first period, to what we knew we needed to do. We understand the importance of the game, who we're playing, and know that we have to play them a couple more times."

Forsberg needed just 2:34 into the contest to record his 33rd marker of the season, and after the Sharks evened the score minutes later, the Predators went back to work. Wood, Josi, Evangelista and Skjei all converted in less than 10 minutes of one another to give Nashville five goals on just their first seven shots of the night. 

“Emotionally, from the drop of the puck,  we were connected,” Skjei said. “We made some passes, and just our game felt really good that first period. So, we’ve got to try to keep moving forward and having those kind of starts. It seems like we always get to that, but to start on time and start like that, obviously, is huge.”

Steven Stamkos gave the Preds a 6-1 advantage with a power-play goal in the second stanza, and although the Sharks added two more before the night was done, Nashville locked things down and prevailed to begin their massive three-game homestand. 

“We know the standings,” Preds winger Jonathan Marchessault said. “We know they're right behind us… We took care of business tonight, and we’ve got to focus on the next game. What makes us successful, I think it's when we're a little bit more connected in our breakouts, and it's giving options to our defensemen, giving options with our center, a little lower for when you're just passing the puck, a little bit more than just shoving it somewhere else. I think that makes a big difference in our game and our start tonight.”

The Predators are now down to 11 games remaining in the campaign, and Tuesday’s statement against a San Jose team they’ll face two more times over the next few weeks confirmed yet again the belief in the Nashville room they’re certainly capable of securing a postseason berth. 

Of course, there are still plenty of tests ahead, but after that first-period outburst, they’re now one step closer to making that goal a reality. 

“It's huge,” Skjei said of beating the Sharks. “We know that we're playing them three times coming down the stretch, and they're right behind us in the standings. I mean, every game from here on out, it's going to be a playoff type game for us, and the points are so important. We know where each other are in the standings, and we really wanted to have a good first, and clearly, we definitely did.”

Notes: 

Nashville’s lineup remained unchanged from game to game with Ozzy Wiesblatt and Justin Barron serving as healthy scratches against the Sharks. 

Per NHL PR, the Predators became just the sixth team since 2009-10 (when real-time data was officially tracked) to convert on five of their first seven shots in a game. They joined the Rangers (6 of 7; March 19, 2023), Kraken (6 of 7; Jan. 14, 2023), Capitals (5 of 7; Nov. 2, 2024), Bruins (5 of 7; Jan. 6, 2018) and Coyotes (5 of 7; March 28, 2013).

Nashville’s homestand continues on Thursday night when they host Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils before the Montreal Canadiens come to town on Saturday evening.