On Tuesday evening, the Nashville Predators welcomed in the Colorado Avalanche, who were clinging to the opportunity to make it into the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Preds had already clinched the first Wild-Card position in the Western Conference and were looking to play spoilers for the Avs.
Nashville jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first period with goals from Colin Wilson and a power-play, highlight goal from Filip Forsberg. Colorado responded with two goals of their own late in the first period and early in the second to tie the game.
The match-up would come down to the third period. In the third, three goals were scored in the first five minutes of the period, luckily Nashville had two of the goals. Mike Fisher and Craig Smith‘s tallies in the third would give the Predators the victory and break their losing streak. The Preds was victorious in a 4-3 decision in front of the hometown fans.
Keys to Watch
Final Home Game of the Regular Season
The Nashville Predators will be back in action tonight for the last time at home during the regular season as they welcome in the Arizona Coyotes to Bridgestone Arena. Tonight will be fan appreciation night in Nashville. The Predators have a record of 22-11-7 in front of their hometown fans and are looking for a first-round match-up to begin next week. The Preds will face-off against either the Kings or Ducks, which will go head-to-head tonight. The team has played well at times at home and the fans will look for a big win against a team whose season ends this week.
Defense Back at Full Strength
For the first time in a few weeks, the Preds defensive corps will be at full strength tonight. The Nashville Predators were able to get Ryan Ellis off of a brief injury stint, and now the Predators will get Anthony Bitetto to return tonight. Bitetto last played on March 17th against the New York Islanders. Before his injury, the Island Park, NY native had put together an impressive offensive streak of three points in five games. He has been listed as day-to-day for the past month with a lower-body injury.
Forsberg
Recently, the face of the Nashville Predators has been none other than Filip Forsberg. Forsberg has been phenomenal with his between the legs, top-shelf goal against Colorado, and his general style of play this season. With two games remaining, the Ostervala, Sweden native has 32 goals, 29 assists, 61 total points, and three game-winning goals during the 2015-16 campaign. Along with James Neal, the Preds will need Forsberg to be this style of player moving into the post-season. He has been a highlight reel for the Preds and has become one of the offensive leaders of this team.
The Predators will look to get another win as they inch closer to the post-season. Be sure to catch all of the action on Fox Sports-Tennessee or you can listen live to 102.5 The Game. Puck drops for the last time during the regular season at 7:00 pm!
