Kiefer Sherwood scored twice as the Nashville Predators earned a big 4-2 win to keep pace for the playoffs over the San Jose Sharks.
Kiefer Sherwood scored twice as the Nashville Predators earned a big 4-2 win to keep pace for the playoffs over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
Filip Forsberg scored the other goal for the Predators, and Juuse Saros wasn't terribly busy as he stopped 23 shots.
Mikael Granlund scored his 31st point in the last 35 games, and Filip Zadina scored for the Sharks. Kaapo Kahkonen was solid between the pipes, making 31 saves.
The Sharks were thoroughly outplayed for a decent chunk of the game but did enough to hang around and make it interesting. Givani Smith returned from injury, and Alexander Barabanov played after being a healthy scratch for a game.
"I thought we did that. We gave an effort. We kept hanging around, got down 2-0, and made it two-to-one. Give up a goal to make it three to one, then make it three to two, and had some chances to tie it, so, you know, some good things," Sharks head coach David Quinn said postgame.
San Jose struggled to build offensive pressure as they were outshot 35-25.
"I don't know anything about goalies, let's just put it out there first, but his positioning and the way he moves. I've never seen that fast of a goalie," Granlund said about his former teammate Juuse Saros. "I was lucky to play with him for four years and get to see him every single day. So he's really good."
Kevin Labanc was a healthy scratch, which came as a surprise to him.
The Sharks have now lost three straight games.
Kiefer Sherwood scores his 6th goal of the season after he was left alone in front of the net.
Filip Forsberg scores his team-leading 27th goal of the season on the powerplay. The Predators had gotten the game's last three powerplays leading up to this point.
Mikael Granlund picks the short-side corner for his 7th goal of the season to cut the two-goal lead down to one. Granlund has had some extra jump to his game throughout.
Sherwood gets his second goal of the night and 7th of the season to get the Predators' lead back to two goals.
Filip Zadia gets the Sharks back within one with his 8th goal of the season. Jan Rutta swept the puck around the net on a wraparound try, and the puck went right to Zadina.
Gustav Nyquist ends it with an empty net goal, his 14th of the season.
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