The Nashville Predators pulled off a stunning road win against the New York Rangers on their home ice in Madison Square Garden. This is a strong change of pace from the disappointing outcome against Dallas and contains some key differences in play style that provide a glint of hope for the games leading up to the Winter Classic.

First Period: Grimaldi nets one, Saros lets one by

Right out of the gate, the Nashville bench looked more calm and collected than in past games. The first half of this stanza was fast, and Nashville certainly seemed in control, despite being put up against the likes of New York’s Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kaako. This controlling playstyle culminated in a wrist shot by Grimaldi that just sneaked past Alexandar Georgiev.

Unfortunately, Nashville’s game slowed down almost immediately after the tally, allowing a goal from Chris Kreider after a turnover quickly became a two-man rush on Saros. The play was created after a poor pass from Dante Fabbro was not noticed by Ryan Johansen. The play remained even for the remainder of the period, with Juuse Saros standing out, blocking 14 of 15 shots faced. The period would close out with an Interference call on Brendan Lemieux, allowing the Preds to start the second at an advantage. 

Second Period: Saros remains strong, Nashville defense score two

Nashville came out of the locker room hungry for a win. This showed with great entries into New York ice and stellar passing from nearly every line. However, New York remained competitive. A shot from New York’s Mika Zibanejad bounced off the skate of Mattias Ekholm, off the post, and past Saros, causing a huge celebration across Madison Square Garden. To all of Nashville’s relief, the puck only settled on the goal line, never fully crossing, and no goal was tallied for the Rangers.

This is seemingly where New York’s luck began to turn, as the rest of their offensive game was peppered with bad bounces. Saros remained hot through the second, blocking all 15 shots against him, which is even more impressive considering that the Preds had a player in the box for over a quarter of the period. Those three penalties were called against Nashville nearly consecutively, with two even overlapping for 9 seconds of 4-3 play.

Despite these shortcomings, Nashville was able to net two goals, each coming from the defensive lines. The first came from Roman Josi after a quick turnover in Nashville ice. Josi was able to sling it past Georgiev after passes from Dan Hamhuis and Kyle Turris. Shortly after the second penalty ended, Mattias Ekholm was able to recover a pass from Bonino and score on the breakaway. Ending the period with a tally of 3 to 1 in favor of Nashville.

Third Period: Two empty-netters seal the deal

The third period began and Nashville seemed to be back in a groove, but New York was certain on pushing their way back onto the scoreboard. This resulted in fairly even play for a little over fifteen minutes, with each team having a few strong opportunities and each only drawing one penalty.

The last three minutes were where things truly got interesting, as New York gained a strong hold on Nashville in their own ice. It seemed as if the Rangers kept getting chance after chance, but Saros kept making save after save. Sadly, Panarin was able to break one past Saros from just beyond the center hash. Saros seemed to be screen by several Predators down the lane. Quickly after scoring that goal, New York was certainly one the offensive. Georgiev was traded in for the extra attacker for seemingly every play after Panarin’s goal but two great shots from Josi and Ellis were able to find their way into the empty Rangers’ net, with Josi’s coming from behind the Nashville net, and Ellis scoring with just five seconds left on the clock.

Looking back: Quality over Quantity

Nashville has been consistently outshooting their opponents for what seems like the last dozen games, but that last dozen games have included losing streaks, uncertain overtime wins, and some disappointing performances. Nashville was outshot 41-24 but seemed calm, collected, and in control for a large portion of the game. While there were some great turnovers on each side and two long range goals at the end of the period, this Nashville roster was able to capitalize on great chances and only seemed to shoot when they had the opportunity.

Even goals like Grimaldi’s came from tight coverage, but he knew he was in good range and was potentially screened. Hopefully this calm and collected play style is one that Nashville can hold on to through the New Year, as the Preds are just short of playoff contention.

Looking forward…

Nashville will stay in New York and will attempt to stay in the win column as they take on the New York Islanders on Tuesday December 16th. The game begins at 6:00 PM CST and can be caught on Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.5 The Game.