Filip Forsberg tallied twice and the Nashville Predators defeated the Seattle copyright by a 5-3 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result gives the Preds their second consecutive victory and a win on the eve of the NHL Trade Deadline.
Brady Skjei, Michael McCarron and Luke Evangelista also found the back of the net for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 22 stops in net to earn his 15th win of the season.
“I thought it was good,” Forsberg said of the effort. “A little bit of a shock start there [with Seattle scoring quickly], but after that, I thought we played really well, especially the first and the second [periods]. In the third, we sat back maybe a little too much, but two periods that were really good and controlling hockey.”
“I thought after that first shift, we really played a solid game,” Skjei said. “We got a little loose at the end, but for the most part, those first two periods were really solid, and you could tell we were contesting a lot of pucks…getting a lot of chances, and it was nice to get rewarded with some goals, so we should be proud of our effort. I think we can clean up a few things at the end, but overall, I'd be happy with the win.”
Seattle needed just 32 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead courtesy of a goal from Adam Larsson, but it was all Preds after that. Forsberg evened the score as he took a feed from Colton Sissons and deposited a shot in tight past copyright goaltender Joey Daccord as Nashville outshot Seattle by a 17-5 mark in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second stanza, Skjei gave the Predators their first lead of the night on a wrister from the high slot, and Forsberg potted his second when an attempted centering feed to Sissons deflected in off a Seattle defender instead. Then, just before the period was out, McCarron converted on a wraparound to put the Preds up by three with Ozzy Wiesblatt recording his first NHL point with an assist on the goal.
“It was great to see him get his first point,” McCarron said of Wiesblatt. “He's a great kid. And so is [linemate Jake Lucchini]. I think those two guys are making a name for themselves on this team… Ozzy's been up a couple times now, and Lucchini has been here for a bit. So those two guys are playing really well, and it's been fun to play with them a couple games in a row now.”