The Predators faced the St. Louis Blues in Wayne Simmonds’s first game as a Predator. After a massive save by Juuse Saros on Jaden Schwartz, Nick Bonino was whistled for a penalty and the Predators were forced to the penalty kill early. The Blues were unsuccessful on their first power play of the evening.
The Predators managed some sustained pressure in front of Blues netminder Jordan Binnington. Saros once again saved Nashville’s bacon on a snipe from Vladimir Tarasenko. Neither team found the back of the net in the first period.
The second period opened with tons of zone pressure by St. Louis. The Predators didn’t seem to have an answer for the Blues, but Juuse Saros stood tall. St. Louis was whistled for a penalty and Nashville had their first chance on the power play with around 7 minutes gone in the second period. The Blues applied incredible pressure and the Predators were unable to get any good looks on net.
P.K. Subban and Ivan Barbashev were called for matching penalties we were treated to some 4-on-4 play. Neither team was able to capitalize. The second period drew to a close with no goals by either team.
The third period opened with more pressure by St. Louis in the Nashville zone. The game became chippier as regulation drew to a close, with many post-whistle events occurring near the goal. The Predators went on another power play with just under 12 minutes remaining in the contest. Nashville was, as you might expect, unable to score.
St. Louis went on a power play with around 9 minutes remaining in the game. The Predators were able to kill the penalty, but Tyler Bozak scored on a nifty five-hole goal as soon as Ryan Johansen came out of the box. The Predators could not find a way to respond.
Subban was whistled for interference with just over a minute remaining left in the game and Nashville’s last-second push was effectively squashed. Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo secured the win for St. Louis with an empty-net goal.
Random Observations
- Wayne Simmonds making his debut for the Preds tonight!
- Juuse Saros has a new mask!!!
- Juuse Saros has to make a massive save less than thirty seconds into the game… OH MY JUUSE!
- I’ll probably be talking about Juuse Saros all night long. Stay with me here, folks.
- Calle Järnkrok almost put it in behind Jordan Binnington!!!!
- I might have died if Cody McLeod had scored there.
- Can we try to shoot the puck from BELOW the circles? Yes?
- Holy Saros!
- St. Louis fans are very mad at P.K. Subban for being P.K. Subban.
- The pace has definitely picked up in the second period.
- Rocco Grimaldi is fearless.
- Holy Juuse! Did I say this already?
- What a freaking bar-down shot…no dice!
- Large angry men!
- EVERYONE IS MAD but Saros is calm.
- Have the Predators considered adding the post to the power play unit?
- Saros just stoned Colton Parayko!
- An angry Peter Laviolette has been spotted.
- The St. Louis crowd does not like Subban.
- An angry Roman Josi has been spotted. /
Super Duper Stars of the Game
- Juuse Saros: The younger Finnish netminder played an incredible game. He saved 42 of 43 shots.
Tweets of the Game
Wayne Simmonds will debut on the Predators’ second line with Calle Jarnkrok and Kyle Turris.
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) February 27, 2019
Maybe they should throw the kitchen sink on the power play. Just to see what happens. 🤷♀️
— Hayley Alexandra 🦖 (@itsHalesYeah) February 27, 2019
Rocco Grimaldi always does the little things, which is big.
— Paul Skrbina (@PaulSkrbina) February 27, 2019
Juuse Saros has been incredible.
— Robby Stanley (@RStanleyNHL) February 27, 2019