Last Saturday, the Nashville Predators traveled to the Pepsi Center in Colorado to take on the Colorado Avalanche for a Central Division showdown. The first period was back-and-forth action between both teams. Colorado took advantage of some suspect play from the defense of Nashville and Blake Comeau (10) scored to give Colorado a 1-0 lead going into the first intermission.
The second period of play allowed for the Preds to tie up the game at 15:30 when Filip Forsberg scored his 28th goal of the season. The Avalanche responded by retaking the lead once again when Gabriel Landeskog (17) scored at 19:14 to give the Avs a 2-1 lead going into the third period.
The Nashville Predators dominated the last period with four unanswered goal, two of which were empty-net goals. The scoring for Nashville was by James Neal (23), Mike Fisher (9), Shea Weber (17), and Miikka Salomaki (5) to give the Preds a 5-2 victory over a division foe.
Keys to Watch
Keep it Going
The Nashville Predators keep getting points. In the last 12 games, the Preds are 8-0-4 with a total of 20 points and are aligning themselves nicely as a playoff contending team. Including tonight, Nashville has 16 regular season games left and have a six point lead on the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche for one of the wild card spots left. Nashville has 78 points in 66 games played. Outside of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Anaheim Ducks, the Nashville Predators are considered one of the top teams in the league currently with their recent streak. The Nashville Predators need to continue their current style of play for a birth in this year’s postseason.
Sissons Recalled
The Nashville Predators announced Monday that the club had recalled forward Colton Sissons from Milwaukee. Sissons’ presence is needed on this squad with the loss of Paul Gaustad who is not on the current road trip due to an upper-body injury. The North Vancouver, BC native is not a player that will put up league-leading goal numbers for your team. Sissons excels in the face-off circle and his style of play is similar to Gaustad. As a member of the Nashville Predators, Colton Sissons is among the league’s best with 59% wins in the circle. His value is in face-offs, don’t expect much point production.
Anyone seen Johansen
After the acquisition of Ryan Johansen, the Preds new they were getting a player that has the skill-set to compete against the best in the NHL. You don’t give up a talent like Seth Jones for just any player. When he first arrived in Nashville, Ryan Johansen was a man possessed scoring seven points in his first five games as a member of the Predators. Since then, Johansen has two goals. From an outsider looking in, this does not bode well for the Nashville Predators. This organization needs Johansen to start to shine and put points up for his current squad.
The Nashville Predators will look to make it 13 straight games with a point as they make it to Winnipeg tonight. Be sure to catch all of the action on Fox Sports-Tennessee or you can listen live on 102.5 The Game. Puck drops at 7:00 pm!
