Predators take on struggling Jets (Mar 13, 2017)
Nashville Predators coach Peter Laviolette said his team is now in the point-collecting business.
As it turned out, business was surprisingly good for Nashville last week on its road trip through California. After picking up "loser" points for shootout and overtime defeats in Anaheim and Los Angeles, respectively, it got two points with a 3-1 decision Saturday in San Jose that snapped a season-long four-game losing streak.
The Predators appear to have a good chance to earn more points and help their playoff chances Monday night with a home date against the struggling Winnipeg Jets in Bridgestone Arena, their only home game in a six-game span.
With a quick two-game trip to Washington and Carolina on the agenda later in the week, the magnitude of this game becomes bigger for Nashville (33-24-11).
"It was a big win for us," Predators goalie Juuse Saros said of beating the Sharks. "It's always tough to come to the west coast and (they're) always a hard opponent, but we played a really smart game today."
Saros, starting in place of Pekka Rinne, made 25 stops to get the victory. Rinne is expected to return to the net Monday night in search of his second win this season over Winnipeg; he stopped it 5-1 on Nov. 25 by making 22 saves.
Ryan Johansen scored his 10th goal of the season at San Jose in the first period and won 14 of 15 faceoffs to spark the winning effort. Johansen has a history of enjoying big games against the Jets, as he has five goals and six assists in his last six games against them.
That includes a 3-0 shutout on Nov. 27 in Winnipeg, when Nashville threw everything it had at goalie Connor Hellebuyck but couldn't solve him, as he stopped 42 shots to earn the shutout.
The Jets (30-33-6) saw their slim Western Conference playoff chances take a major hit last week with home losses against San Jose, Pittsburgh and Calgary. They currently sit nine points behind St. Louis for the final playoff spot with just 13 games left -- two fewer than the Blues.
"We got to have short memories," Hellebuyck said after a 3-0 defeat to Calgary Saturday night. "We know what we're capable of and we're going to bring it every night. Put this one behind us ... we'll refresh and restart."
This one starts a three-game trip for Winnipeg that also takes it to New Jersey and the New York Islanders. Also, working against the Jets is their schedule, which features mostly matchups against playoff-bound or hot teams.
"We've got to deal with the way we played," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said after the Calgary loss. "We sagged after they scored. Certainly, in the third period, I would have hoped for a better push."
The Predators got that sustained push at San Jose and also got good news when James Neal ended a 10-game goal drought with the tie-breaker midway through the second period. Neal, who's known for going on hot streaks, could be about to go on a tear like he had in November and early December, when he tallied 10 markers in 11 games.
"You're going to go into slumps through your career, and you have to keep battling through them," Neal said.
