In their first game of the new year in Bridgestone Arena, the Nashville Predators needed extra time and then some to figure out the New York Islanders. A 30-save performance by Juuse Saros and the lone shootout goal by Filip Forsberg proved to be enough in Nashville's 2-1 win on Thursday. Ryan O'Reilly scored shorthanded in the second period. The Predators are 8-0 in shootouts dating back to the 2023-24 season. "We knew it was gonna be a mucky game," Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. "They're (New York) a really stingy defensive team. Coming off a road trip and getting in late yesterday, it felt like a road game to a lot of our group. We wanted to have that road mentality where we were simple, direct, and hard." Here are three takeaways from the Predators victory over the Islanders. "HE'S A COMPETITIVE SON-OF-A-GUN" Ryan O'Reilly, Cole Smith and Juuse Saros speak to media following the Nashville Predators 2-1 shootout win over the New York Islanders on Jan. 8, 2025 at Bridgestone Arena. Jack Williams/The Hockey News Cole Smith didn't mince words when talking about Saros' performance. "He's (Saros) fiery. He's a competitive son of a gun, and, he wants to win. It's awesome to see," Smith said. In addition to the 30 save performance, which included shutting down five shots in overtime and stonewalling three Islanders players in the shootout, he stood his ground in net when he needed to. In the third period, Anders Lee got an elbow up in Saros' face, knocking him to the ice. Michael McCarron immediately went after Lee, causing a scuffle in the right corner. During that scuffle, defenseman Adam Pelech was in the paint and taking his time getting up from the ice. Saros gives Pelech a few shoves to get out of the paint, to his team's and the crowd's delight. "I just wasn't happy. He put the puck in the net, and I wasn't happy about that," Saros said. "It was probably best that he didn't come after me, because he was a little bit of a bigger guy than me." Saros has shown throughout his entire time in Nashville that he is an elite goaltender, but flashed his competitive side in Tuesday's game. "He's competitive, and that's why he's as good as he is," Brunette said. "You saw a little bit tonight and the instance there in the 3rd period. I thought in overtime, there's no way they're going to score on him or in the shootout." WOOD RETURNS WITH LIMITED ICE TIME Jan 8, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Cole McWard (4) and Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) battle for the puck during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/7c6d69ae-40d0-4b06-b917-a6a126b864d1.jpeg] Jan 8, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; New York Islanders defenseman Cole McWard (4) and Nashville Predators right wing Matthew Wood (71) battle for the puck during the first period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images One of the more contested topics over the last week has been Matthew Wood. After the Predators' 4-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 1, Wood was scratched in back-to-back games against the Calgary Flames, a 4-3 win, and the Edmonton Oilers, a 6-2 loss. Brunette cited Wood's youth and said he needed time to step back and watch the game. In both games, Wood was scratched for defenseman Justin Barron, who hadn't played since Nov. 16 due to injury. On Tuesday, Barron was scratched for Wood, but his time was limited. He played a season-low 7:26 minutes. The third line, which Wood played on with Tyson Jost and Fedor Svechkov, played just 5:49 minutes. That's four minutes less of ice time than the first and second lines. Jost had a rough night, taking two penalties and logging just 7:22 minutes of ice time. Svechkov had 11:46 minutes of ice time. Wood and Jose were the only two players to log less than 10 minutes of ice time against the Islanders. "We kind of lost him (Wood) a little bit in the shuffle there," Brunette said. "We were 4-on-4 and took some penalties, and I'm always cognizant, late in games, and these kinds of games mean a lot, I try to protect them a little bit. I thought he definitely could have played them more tonight." PLAYING THROUGH PENALTIES Jan 8, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly (90) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/30e0db21-3773-49fe-ad87-2793c06344f3.jpeg] Jan 8, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators center Ryan O'Reilly (90) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the New York Islanders during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images The officials called a tight game, with 49 combined penalties and three offsetting calls. In the first period, Kyle MacLean and Cole Smith were both called for tripping and later in the period, Jost was called for tripping and Casey Cizikas for unsportsmanlike misconduct. In the third period, Luke Evangelista and Tony DeAngelo were both called for unsportsmanlike misconduct. Altogether, that was six combined minutes of 4-on-4 play. Brunette also echoed the team's disappointment with the no-call on Lee's hit on Saros, and there were a few stoppages missed by officials as well. However, that's where the Predators' resilience has come into play, as they've battled through difficult situations. "We're a pretty resilient group, Brunette said. "We're grateful and blessed with some great leadership from the bench down. Obviously, we're a little upset with the Juice (Saros) hit, but we were able to rally, not let it bother us and get back to work." The Predators' penalty kill was 5-of-5 and even found the back of the net. Killing off McCarron's interference call, Cole Smith found O'Reilly on the 2-on-1 break and he'd score his 13th of the season shorthanded. Up next: Chicago Blackhawks (18-18-7, 6th in Central) at Nashville Predators (20-19-4, 5th in Central) on Saturday, Jan. 10 at Bridgestone Arena at 7 p.m. CST
