Watson Tallies Hat Trick as Preds Defeat Ducks

Nashville's longest homestand of the season is off and running.
Austin Watson tallied his first-career hat trick as Predators defeated the Anaheim Ducks by a 5-2 final on Sunday night at Bridgestone Arena. The victory is Nashville's sixth straight at home, as well as their sixth consecutive home win over the Ducks.
Not only is the result the perfect way to begin the five-game home set, but especially after Friday's outing in St. Louis - a 6-2 defeat - the Preds wanted nothing more than to make that effort one and done.
Mission accomplished.

"For as long as I've been here, we've done a good job of bouncing back after playing games we didn't like, and tonight was no different," Watson said. "It's a good hockey team over there; spirited, hard battles. But we stuck to our game plan. We were able to stay on the attack and start our homestand with a win."
Watson got the scoring started when he put home a loose puck in front for a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play. Anaheim tied the game early in the second on the man advantage, but former Duck Nick Bonino sniped a shot past John Gibson at the 5:38 mark of the middle frame for his fourth of the season, all of which have come in his last six outings.

The clubs then traded goals in the final minutes of the second as Watson redirected a shot on the power play for his second of the night, before the Ducks got back to within one with just eight seconds remaining in the stanza.
But, early in the third, the Preds capitalized on the power play once more when Craig Smith poked in a rebound before Watson sent the hats flying when he sent the puck into an empty net with 1:06 to play in regulation.

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 17 shots on the night for career win No. 321, going about his business expertly, as usual. And as the evening wore on, the Preds jockeyed for position once more, finding themselves back atop the League standings by night's end.
"We anticipated the type of game it was going to be," Bonino said. "We were ready for it, ready for that physicality. We did a good job on both special teams… and we came out and did what we need to do."

Watty Hatty:
When Austin Watson returned to the Predators lineup on Nov. 15 after missing the first 18 games of the season, he and Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette knew it might take a few games for the forward to get back to playing at his full potential.
Safe to say that's no longer an issue.
Watson's first-career hat trick was chalked full of classic Watson goals - going hard to the net, creating havoc and simply finding a way to score.
"It's always nice to score goals and contribute," Watson said. "As hockey players, that's what we like doing. It's a good opportunity to play with [Ryan] Johansen and [Filip] Forsberg; two gifted hockey players. It was a fun night."
"There's something about the game and the way it moves and getting your game timing down from skating, reading the puck, and handling the plays; we've been giving him more opportunity in regards to ice time, penalty kill and defensive zone starts when the game is on the line," Laviolette said of Watson. "He got moved up to Ryan Johansen's line for a lot of shifts, and he did a good job with that."
Watson's play as of late is exactly what earned him time on Nashville's top trio on the night, as well as back alongside his usual trio with Nick Bonino and Colton Sissons.
No matter who he's playing with, if No. 51 continues to contribute with regularity - now four goals and six points in six games since returning - the Preds will be that much better for it as the season rolls along.
"He was decent," Bonino joked. "He's producing. He's hitting. He's fighting. He's blocking shots. [He's] doing everything the team needs. It's evident that he's big in our lineup, and it's good to see that for him."

Notes:
Prior to Sunday's game, the Predators placed center Kyle Turris on Injured Reserve and recalled forward Rocco Grimaldi from Milwaukee. Grimaldi was scratched on Sunday.
Austin Watson is the fourth Preds player to record a hat trick this season (also: Calle Jarnkrok, Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg) tying a franchise record.
Nashville's four hat tricks this season are more than any other team in the NHL.
Nashville's season-long, five-game homestand continues on Tuesday night when the Colorado Avalanche come to town before Arizona, Chicago and Buffalo continue the visits every other day.