After knocking off the NHL’s prime workforce within the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night time, the Nashville Predators traveled to tackle the league’s second-best workforce, the New Jersey Devils on Monday night. Sadly, the workforce adopted up it’s most dominant efficiency of the yr with simply one of many worst – simply hours after the workforce’s announcement of the commerce of Philip Tomasino to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Filip Forsberg kicked off the scoring by taking a sharp-angled shot in opposition to the appropriate wall on the workforce’s first shot of the sport – though that shot on objective got here after New Jersey had seven of their very own. Nonetheless, Forsberg picked up his ninth objective of the season and first for the reason that win in opposition to Utah, this time unassisted.
With the Predators chasing possession all through the primary, Juuse Saros appeared sharp to start the sport till an odd-man rush with Dawson Mercer, Johnathan Kovacevic and former Predator Erik Haula beat the Finnish netminder to tie the sport at one apiece.
As the sport moved to the second interval, the Devils managed the sport much more than they did within the first. Within the interval, the Devils outshot the Predators 19-10, however of these 19, there have been three specifically that modified the sport from a impasse to a rout – Nico Hischier’s pure hat trick simply over 13 minutes of the center body. Timo Meier took on two Predators by himself into the New Jersey offensive zone, waited till Hischier got here streaking in beside him, and the New Jersey captain discovered the again of the web and a 2-1 lead.
Halfway via the interval, yet one more unhealthy behavior of the Predators reared it’s ugly head. Nashville dedicated it’s fourth penalty for too many males (tied for the league lead), and the NHL’s prime penalty kill was unable to cease Hischier as soon as once more – Saros was bombarded early within the energy play, and Nico took a rebound from the underside of the appropriate circle, pushing the result in two halfway via the second.
With simply over three minutes remaining within the interval, a Brady Skjei turnover within the impartial zone to Hischier put the Devils captain behind everybody, and gained the one on zero matchup in opposition to Saros, finishing the pure hat trick and pushing the sport to 4-1, and would result in Juuse Saros being pulled from the sport after the interval had ended.
The efficiency in every interval was worse than the final, and the ultimate body was as unhealthy because it’s been all season – and never by fault of Scott Wedgewood, who got here in aid of Juuse Saros.
The excellent news? Zachary L’Heureux scored his second of the yr (and his profession), profiting from a New Jersey line change and taking an exquisite Roman Josi cross from the Predators bench into the OZ and beating Jacob Markstrom to chop the New Jersey result in two.
That might be the ultimate “good” second for the workforce in a interval that felt extremely emblematic of the season as an entire. The Predators have been outshot 16-3 – and this was the interval by which they’d two energy performs – one minor on Haula and a significant on Timo Meier who was ejected for a very nasty cross-check on L’Heureux. The Predators managed solely a single shot on objective in these 5 minutes of the benefit and with the hometown crowd screaming as the ultimate seconds of the kill ticked away, Justin Downing discovered the empty internet with below three minutes remaining to place a bow on the sport, and make the ultimate rating 5-2, sending the Nashville Predators to 7-12-3, and the fourth-worst report within the league.
Three Stars of the Recreation
Third Star: NJ D Johnathan Kovacevic – Two assists, two factors
Second Star: NJ F Erik Haula – One objective, one level
First Star: NJ F Nico Hischier – Three targets (pure hat trick), three factors
