Juuse Saros
Juuse Saros
Do you believe in miracles?
The Predators’ 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Thursday may not have been quite enough to relive broadcaster Al Michaels’ iconic line from the 1980 Olympics.
But the outcome at Bridgestone Arena was nonetheless a stunner.
The Jets entered the contest in the midst of a franchise-record, 11-game winning streak, the longest winning streak in the NHL this season. Winnipeg, which hadn’t lost since Jan. 20, leads the league in wins (42) and points (87).
The Predators, meanwhile, are in the midst of a woeful season, with the third-fewest wins (21) and points (47) in the league. Nashville had won just two of its last 10 games and had scored a combined three goals in its last three contests.
Did we mention the Preds were without injured team captain Roman Josi, one of the NHL’s better defensemen?
But what looked like a rout on paper turned into an inspirational upset for the Predators (21-30-7), who outshot the Jets 30-24 and held the NHL’s best power play off the board in four attempts.
The strong penalty-killing effort was never more evident than late in the second period, when the Preds — ahead 2-1 — nullified a 5-on-3 Winnipeg power that lasted 1:54.
“It was a huge moment, kind of a turning point,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said on the FanDuel Sports Network’s postgame show. “The guys really dug in. All the penalty killers did an unbelievable job, kind of put us in a really good position.”
One of the Preds’ stars was goalie Juuse Saros, who stopped 23-of-24 shots, compiling a 1.81 goals saved above expected total, per MoneyPuck.com.
This season has been a struggle for Saros, who’d won only one of his previous seven starts and began the game with an .899 save percentage. But Saros allowed just one goal for the second time in his last three outings, looking especially sharp early in the second period when he stretched across the crease to stop Winnipeg forward Josh Morrissey’s backdoor attempt.
“Yeah, obviously it was awesome,” Saros said of the win. “[Guys were making] huge plays there at the end to keep the win for us.”
Filip Forsberg and Tommy Novak scored first-period goals for the Predators, who held their 2-1 advantage for the final 44:31 of the contest. Nashville didn’t waver in the third period, outshooting the Jets 10-4 to secure the unexpected victory.
“I thought we played pretty solid [in the third],” Forsberg said. “There have been times this season where we’ve kind of sat back and prayed. But I thought we held onto the puck, tried to make things happen and it obviously worked out this time.”
It won’t be a win that puts the Preds back in the playoff race — that ship has long since sailed — but the result is at least evidence the team is showing life during what promises to be a lengthy stretch of relatively meaningless contests.
“We’ve climbed and slipped so many times this year,” Brunette said. “Got to give the group a lot of credit. They’re really resilient. We’re going to jump back on the mountain.
“[Thursday] was an opportunity to close the game out, to leave the rink with a good feeling. We haven’t left too many nights with this feeling, so let’s enjoy it and hopefully we can build off it.”
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