On Tuesday night, the Nashville Predators showed one of their most dominant performances of the season with a 5-2 win over the streaking, Colorado Avalanche.
The 1st period saw the Avs take an early 1-0 lead when Nathan MacKinnon got one past Pekka Rinne at 3:57, but Calle Jarnkrok was able to respond for the Preds with a breakaway goal at 4:12 of the 1st.
Nashville dominated the rest of the game. In the second period, Nashville was able to get scores from Craig Smith and Roman Josi. The third period gave Nashville the opportunity to finish off the Avs. Filip Forsberg had a phenomenal goal off the faceoff and Eric Nystrom put the game away with a SH goal from the opposite end of the ice with the goalie pulled to give the Preds a 5-1 lead. John Mitchell scored a late PPG, but Colorado couldn’t mount a comeback.
Tonight, the Preds welcome division rival, Minnesota Wild, into Bridgestone Arena at 7:30 pm CST.
In their last outing, the Minnesota Wild took on the Edmonton Oilers at home and did not play well. The Wild lost to the Oilers 2-1, with all of the scoring happening in the 1st period.
Ben Scrivens, Oilers goalie, was spectacular with 34 saves. Thomas Vanek was the lone scorer for Minnesota.
Zach Parise leads the Minnesota Wild in points with 46 and 25 goals on the season.
Keys to Watch
Will he or won’t he?
Along with a boo filled night at Bridgestone Arena via Ryan Suter, another big question for tonight’s game is the status of Ryan Ellis. Ellis has been on IR since early January, and he has been practicing with Seth Jones. Signs lead to him being in the lineup tonight, but only time will tell. I guess we will have to wait till warm-ups to find out.
Let Down in Minnesota
The Wild were considered one of the hottest teams in the NHL, but their loss to the Oilers raised some concern about inconsistent goal scoring with their team. With the acquisition of Devan Dubnyk, the Wild has been a different team. This team will be looking to rebound after their letdown at home.
What a turnaround!
My third key tonight’s game is more of a key to the year. As we look back at the past 365 days, Nashville’s faithful has seen a tremendous turnaround. No bigger turnaround than the one by Pekka Rinne. His injury was devastating to not only last season, but encouraging to this season. He has been the rock for the Predators. We all know he will be in the discussion for the Vezina, but if he isn’t in the discussion for the Hart, it’s a crying shame.
Tonight’s matchup will be another test for the Predators as they continue their reign atop the NHL and Central Division standings. This game is going to be televised at 7:30 pm CST on NBC Sports Network. As usual, 102.5 The Game will have your radio coverage on lock!
LET’S GO PREDS!
