After a thrilling overtime win over the New Jersey Devils, Nashville has very little time to celebrate and catch their breath as they face off against the 15-9 New York Islanders tonight at UBS Arena.
The Nashville Predators head to UBS Arena tonight to take on the New York Islanders. The Preds, coming off of their shocking overtime win over the Devils, need a quick reset to be ready for a well rounded Islanders team.
Besides great goaltending from Ilya Sorokin (.933 save percentage, 2.18 GAA, 10-6 in 16 games started), the Islanders boast a top five defense in front of him. Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock have been outstanding for New York combining for 78 blocks, 79 hits, and averaging +10 in just over twenty minutes of average ice time.
The Islanders offense ranks 14th in the league in goals for per game at 3.25, and there are plenty of offensive weapons up and down the lineup. Besides points leader Matt Barzal, the line of Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Anthony Beauvillier are generating offense, while Noah Dobson and Zach Parise have chipped in recent goals as well.
Nashville earned the win over the Islanders when the teams played November 17 at Bridgestone Arena. It's been an unusual few weeks for the Preds since that game. Nashville beat Anaheim, Arizona, and New Jersey in overtime wins but also played a statistically strong game in a shut out loss to Detroit. The team also missed two games due to flooding at Bridgestone Arena, so while Nashville will be playing the second half of a back to back tonight, they may be more rested than expected.
Looking back at the 5-4 Preds win in November and what Nashville has done since there, here are three keys to tonight's game against the Islanders.
Limit turnovers and exit the zone cleanly.
In November, the Predators gave up too many chances on giveaways in the defensive zone and sloppy zone exits, and several of those mistakes resulted in quality chances (and goals) for the Islanders. Last night against the Devils, the Preds cleaned up the turnovers and didn't give their opponent extra chances they didn't work to earn. Tonight needs to be a clean game for the Predators.
Stay out of the box.
Right now Nashville's special teams are not very special. The Predators anemic power play is 28th in the league, and the once steadfast penalty kill has taken a beating lately giving up five power play goals on fourteen chances since last facing the Islanders.
The Isles' power play is significantly more threatening than Nashville's, and their penalty kill ranks fifth in the league when it comes to frustrating the man advantage. Nashville will need to neutralize the special teams advantage New York has and stay out of the penalty box.
Win the net front battles.
The net front real estate was critical in Nashville's previous win over the Islanders, and it will be space worth fighting for in tonight's game as well. In the last meeting, Nashville scored two goals off rebounds, two goals off net front tip ins, and one bounced off traffic in front of Sorokin to go in.
The Preds need to put bodies in front of Sorokin and be tenacious when it comes to loose pucks and rebounds. Those may not be the pretty goals, but greasy goals win games.
The Predators take on the New York Islanders tonight at UBS Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 pm CST, and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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