Roman Josi, Yakov Trenin, and Gus Nyquist each scored and Nashville held off a late push by Winnipeg to earn their fifth win in a row and two more valuable Central Division points.
Roman Josi, Yakov Trenin, and Gus Nyquist each scored and Nashville held off a late push by Winnipeg to earn their fifth win in a row and two more valuable Central Division points.
The Nashville Predators returned home Sunday night to face the fourth Central Division team in their last five games, the Winnipeg Jets. The 12-5-2 Jets entered the game on a five game win streak and went 8-2 in their last ten games. Laurent Brossoit got the start in net for the Jets.
The Predators went with seven defensemen and eleven forwards against Winnipeg and activated Luke Schenn off of injured reserve. Juuse Saros took his place in goal.
The Winnipeg Jets kicked off the game with two quality chances early but were unable to capitalize on them. The Jets dictated play and pressured Juuse Saros with shots on goal including a quick flurry of chances, but Saros was able to track the puck and come up with big saves.
Halfway through the period the Jets led 11-3 in shots on goal, but Nashville began to push back as the period went on. In the final minute of the game Yakov Trenin got the Predators on the board with a goal off a pass around the defender from Roman Josi. The Predators headed to the locker room having closed the gap in shots on goal to 14-13 and with a one goal lead.
Just 1:27 into the second period Roman Josi scored on a wide angle shot that snuck behind Laurent Brossoit to gave Nashville the 2-0 lead. At 6:10 the Predators got the first power play chance of the game as Vladislav Namestnikov was whistled for tripping Phil Tomasino. Just :12 seconds later Gus Nyquist tipped in a pass from Filip Forsberg to give the Predators a three goal lead.
The Jets got their chance of the power play at 8:29 as Kiefer Sherwood headed to the box for a roughing call. Nashville's penalty kill frustrated the Jets power play and prevented them from getting a shot on goal on the two minute man advantage.
At 14:33 Josh Morrissey headed to the penalty box for a high stick on Luke Evangelista. Nashville's top unit pressured Brossoit but Nashville couldn't convert on the man advantage, and the teams returned to five a side.
A hit on Roman Josi by Vladislav Namestnikov late in the period riled up Nashville's captain and his team, but a late scuffle was broken up and the teams headed into the second intermission with the Predators up 3-0.
The third period opened with back and forth play between the teams. Nashville interrupted Winnipeg's attempts to break out and generate chances off the rush. After ten minutes of play, the Predators finally evened up the shots on goal at 26 each. Josh Morrissey made good on the Jets' next shots on goal, cleaning up his own rebound and tapping it past Saros at 10:28.
A penalty called on Spencer Stastney at 11:04 gave the Jets a power play, and Cole Perfetti cashed in quickly to make it a one goal game. A long shift for the Predators in the defensive zone in the last five minutes of the game finally ended with Saros covering a loose puck in front of the net.
With less than two minutes to play, Brossoit abandoned the net in favor of an extra attacker for the Jets, but Saros and the Predators were able to fend off the last minute push by the Jets. Nashville won their fifth straight game by a score of 3-2.
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