Kiefer Sherwood had a Gordie Howe hat trick, Tommy Novak scored twice, Samuel Fagemo scored in his first game as a Predator, and Luke Evangelista got his first goal of the season as the young guns helped the Predators to a home win over the San Jose Sharks.
After a strong performance at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, the Nashville Predators returned home to Bridgestone Arena Saturday night to play the 0-3-1 San Jose Sharks.
Tonight Samuel Fagemo made his debut for the Predators after being picked up off waivers by Nashville on October 2. He has been practicing with the team but had yet to play a regular season game. He slotted in on the second line with Colton Sissons and Gustav Nyquist as Cody Glass is out seven to ten days with a lower body injury. Phil Tomasino was a healthy scratch again tonight and Juuse Saros got the start in net for Nashville.
The Sharks headed to Nashville after a loss Thursday night against the Boston Bruins. Former Predators Mikael Granlund, Luke Kunin, and Matt Benning returned to Bridgestone for the Sharks, although Granlund did not play due to injury. Mackenzie Blackwood took his place in net for San Jose.
It was a slow start to the game for both teams. Luke Evangelista had the best chance in the first half of the opening period gathering a juicy rebound and sending it back on net, but Blackwood covered the distance laterally and made the save. The Sharks pressured Saros with extended zone time in a stretch but were unable to capitalize before the Predators finally got the puck out of the zone.
At 15:30, Nashville went on the power play after Blackwood was called for a delay of game penalty for holding onto the puck outside the blue paint. The first power play unit couldn't score, but when the second unit came on Gustav Nyquist found Samuel Fagemo who snapped the puck past Blackwood to get his first goal in gold and give Nashville the 1-0 lead.
Juuso Pärssinen was called for interference at 18:53, but San Jose wasn't able to convert before the period ended. The teams headed to their locker rooms with Nashville leading 1-0 and San Jose with :53 of power play time remaining to start the second period.
The Predators came out and killed the rest of Pärssinen's penalty and quickly went on the offensive. The Sharks lost Tommy Novak in traffic but Kiefer Sherwood found him with a perfect net front pass, and Novak tipped the puck in at 2:06 to give Nashville the 2-0 lead. Just :12 later, Sherwood scored his own goal from the top of the circle to make it a 3-0 game.
Nashville wasn't able to capitalize on the power play after a Mario Ferraro tripping penalty, and then Colton Sissons took his turn in the box for a trip in front of the net. The Sharks pressured on the man advantage, but Nashville's penalty killers were able to keep the Sharks off the board.
Tempers flared between Kiefer Sherwood and former Predator Luke Kunin, and the two dropped the gloves at 8:52 earning five minutes each for fighting. Nashville got another power play chance at 15:47 as Mike Hoffman was called for holding Ryan O'Reilly, but the Predators' power play couldn't take advantage. The teams headed into second intermission with Nashville up 3-0.
The Predators got an early power play chance at 1:47 after Fabian Zetterlund was called for a delay of game. Gustav Nyquist found Tommy Novak sneaking through net front traffic, and Novak tapped the puck past Blackwood at 2:49 for Nashville's second power play goal of the game.
After another unsuccessful power play by the Predators, Tomas Hertl got the Sharks on the board at five on five scoring on a backside rebound at 10:34. Luke Evangelista answered back three minutes later with a breakaway goal to give Nashville a 5-1 win.