O'Reilly has goal, assist for Nashville
Predators at Utah Hockey Club | Recap
SALT LAKE CITY — Juuse Saros made 39 saves, and the Nashville Predators recovered to defeat the Utah Hockey Club 4-3 in a shootout at Delta Center on Thursday.
Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist, and Filip Forsberg and Nick Blankenburg also scored for the Predators (29-42-8), who have won two straight games. Forsberg had the only goal in the shootout.
“It’s a lot more fun,” Forsberg said about winning the past two games. “We’ve got to keep building on what we’re doing. We’re doing a lot of good things and getting a little bit rewarded for it, and hopefully we can do the same thing on Saturday.”
NSH@UTA: Forsberg and Saros lift Predators to shootout victory
Dylan Guenther, Josh Doan, and Nick Bjugstad scored, and Karel Vejmelka made 28 saves for Utah (36-30-13), which had won two straight.
“I think we played a good game offensively and [I did] not like our game defensively,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think our commitment defensively was not what it’s been for a long time. But [Vejmelka] was elite, he made key saves at key moments.”
Thursday marked the final home game for Utah in its inaugural season. It went 18-15-8 at Delta Center.
“The first season here in our NHL history, it’s crazy to think about that. Just how quickly it happened and how great of a move it’s been,” Clayton Keller said. “[I’m] just super thankful. So many people gave us a great position to be successful, and I couldn’t be more excited for next year.”
NSH@UTA: Bjugstad scores opening goal from a sharp angle
Bjugstad opened the scoring at 4:49 of the second period, roofing a shot from along the goal line over the right shoulder of Saros to give Utah a 1-0 lead.
Doan made it 2-0 at 13:54, tapping in the rebound of a shot from Jack McBain.
Blankenburg scored a power-play goal at 17:21, beating Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the point to cut it to 2-1.
“It took us a little while to get our legs going. I thought we settled in the game,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I always usually like our chances in a shootout. So, it’s good to get the win.”
Forsberg tied the game 2-2 on a power play 1:19 into the third period.
“The second and third periods were a little better,” Forsberg said. “Unbelievable effort at the end by the penalty killers and [Saros] to get us to a shootout.”
NSH@UTA: Forsberg stashes a rebound home for PPG in 3rd
O’Reilly put the Predators ahead 3-2 at 3:17 when he collected a rebound and beat Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Guenther answered back at 5:42, scoring off a rebound in front from Logan Cooley‘s initial shot to tie it 3-3.
NOTES: Forsberg extended his point streak to five games (three goals, three assists). … Utah earned a point in 16 of its final 20 home games (12-4-4). … Utah forward Alex Kerfoot has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games.
