Fresh off their 2-1 last second, overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks, the Nashville Predators were back in action Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. This will be the last Preds home game for a while - their next five games are on the road - and they don’t return home until Jan. 24.

The Predators came out aggressive early on, they swarmed the net and fired a couple of good shots at Boston goalie Tuuka Rask. Viktor Arvidsson, to no surprise, was right in the middle of the offensive frenzy. Speaking of Rask, he took a hard slapshot to the neck and had to leave; backup Zane McIntyre took his place. There were several big hits and cheap shots closing out the period. Roman Josi took a stiff shot and had to leave the ice.

Right after the 5-minute power play expires Austin Watson buries the first goal of the game and the Preds are in business. Seven minutes later, Torey Krug ties it up on the power play for Boston. This game is getting chippy fast, a lot of big hits and uncalled penalties. With 2:24 left Filip Forsberg hulk smashes his 10th goal of the season and now this sounds like a Preds home game.

Harry Zolnierczyk takes a puck off the knee and he heads to the bench. This Preds team cannot sustain any more injuries. Both teams playing like this is the last time they will take the ice. Boston pushes, Nashville pushes back, Boston pushes harder, Juuse Saros says that’s cute. Consecutive wins for the boys!

Random Observations:

• Mike Ribeiro scratched in favor of recent waiver claim Derek Grant. Could this spell trouble for Ribs?
• Alexandre Carrier warmed up with the team but will not play tonight. He is likely insurance in case of any injuries during the upcoming road trip
• Viktor Arvidsson just stole a puck and almost singlehandedly willed the Preds to a goal
• Uh uh, Tuuka Rask just took a puck to the neck and appears to be in serious pain
• Kevin Fiala has been noticeable tonight, in a bad way
• Derek Grant wasting little time getting acclimated to Nashville, he just laid a big hit and then got into Adam McQuaid’s face while exiting the ice. I like this guy
• A LOT of cheap shots going on now
• Josi is down and it does not look good
• Grant and McQuaid drop the gloves and Grant loses that exchange. Points for trying buddy
• Juuse Saros is a freakin’ machine
• Like clockwork the opposing team goes on the power play, then the opposing team scores a goal
• My oh my Filip Forsberg was not going to be denied on that goal. He celebrated by hitting the glass with some authority there
• Austin Watson may not have very many teeth, but he will wreck you

OTF’s Super Duper Stars of the Night:

1. Juuse Saros - this kid is stone-cold legit. I hope Marek Mazanec really likes the Milwaukee scenery because Juuse isn’t going anywhere. He had 35 saves on 36 shots and he has won over the hearts of Preds fans everywhere.
2. Austin Watson - he can score goals, he can throw hands, he can ninja star you and you’d never know. This kid is for real.
3. Filip Forsberg - that goal he scored was so Forsbergian it hurts. He has 10 goals now on the season, for comparison sake he had 11 around this time last year and still finished with 33.

Tweets of the Night:

Game Extras

Game Stats

Game Photos

HockeyStats

Natural Stat Trick

Game Video