The Nashville Predators continued their playoff push as they returned home tonight, and they did it in style.
The Preds did not get out to the best of starts, letting a Sharks team that has struggled with a lot of things this season charge into their zone and set up shop. Fortunately for them, Klim Kostin cross-checked Marc Del Gaizo–in tonight as the injuries to the d-corps continue–and the Preds got a power play to break up the Sharks’ onslaught.
Although the Preds met with no success on the power play itself, they kept Magnus Chrona busy and continued to press after Kostin was released from the box. Finally, at 11:18, Roman Josi got the Preds on the board with another beautiful shot from the blueline. Chrona was busy again a few minutes later, during an absolute frenzy in front of the net, but he held firm, and the Sharks pushed back. Mikael Granlund tied the game on the counterattack, making it 1-1 at 17:18.
The Sharks roared out to start the second period, putting up an attack that the Preds had no counter for. After almost six uninterrupted minutes of this, Mario Ferraro got one past Juuse Saros, another unlucky deflection off a Preds defender, and gave the Sharks the lead. Jason Zucker almost immediately took a high-sticking penalty, but the penalty kill came up huge, stonewalling San Jose completely.
Things turned around again after that, as Zucker scored on his next proper shift after his penalty, at 9:37. Nashville did not let up the attack, putting on a clinic in the Sharks’ end as first Michael McCarron, then Luke Evangelista, added goals to the score, at 15:26 and 17:50, and Josi did some more great work.
The Sharks finally got the puck back, and a little breathing room for Chrona, but time ran out–fortunately, it turns out, for them. A last-minute steal gave the Preds a buzzer-beater that did not in fact beat the buzzer at the end of the second, waved off. Nashville then seemed to score again less than two minutes into the third. That one was ruled a no-goal immediately on the ice due to goalie interference.
The Preds got another opportunity on the power play a couple of minutes later, when Ferraro high-sticked Filip Forsberg, but despite a strong effort with the skater advantage and a determined continuing attack once Ferraro got out of the box, they weren’t able to score again until a Sharks turnover in the royal road let McCarron tap his second of the night past Chrona at 10:35.
Granlund wasn’t done yet, though, springing Kostin on a breakaway. Saros, who might quite reasonably have decided to take a little nap back there, instead reacted quickly and made the save. While the Sharks had another quick try, the Preds got back on the attack, and Mark Jankowski tipped a Tyson Barrie shot at 14:13.
Not to be left out, Filip Forsberg got in on the scoring just thirty seconds later. The Preds continued to press. McCarron almost got a third, and while he didn’t, Tommy Novak joined the fun just after Forsberg’s goal was announced, making it 8-2 at 16:16. The game briefly slowed down after that, but Kiefer Sherwood, who’d set up both of McCarron’s goals wasn’t content; while the rest of the team caught their breath, he was still trying to get McCarron the hat trick.
Sadly, their efforts weren’t rewarded; the Preds and their fans would have to be content with the general shellacking.