So far, the home cooking is working out well for the Nashville Predators.
After beating the Islanders 2-0 in their home pre-season opener on Sunday, the Preds beat the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight by a 2-1 score. Simon Moser scored his first goal of the pre-season early in the second period, with Rich Clune picking up the assist, and Kevin Klein extended the lead to 2-0 with 5:13 left in the third. A Steven Stamkos goal in the final minute made things close, but Nashville held on for the win.
The Preds dominated the flow of the game in the first period, out-shooting Tampa Bay 13-2 although the game remained scoreless. While the Lightning bounced back with a stronger effort in the second period, the Preds reasserted control over the game in the final frame, leading to an overall 33-17 shooting advantage.
Pekka Rinne enjoyed another strong outing, turning aside all 14 shots he faced during the first two periods before Marek Mazanec took over. Anders Lindback made his return to Bridgestone Arena wearing enemy colors and played well, stopping 31 Nashville shots. Viktor Stalberg left the game with an upper body injury suffered in the first period.
The Preds’ penultimate pre-season game takes place tomorrow evening at Washington.
Post-game audio is available from Barry Trotz, Shea Weber, Simon Moser, and Matt Hendricks (click each name for the MP3).
Nashville Predators Advanced Stats
| Player | Pos | ES TOI | Total Shots For | Total Shots Against | Corsi | Net Zone Starts | Adjusted Corsi |
| Patric Hornqvist | R | 16:00 | 13 | 10 | +3 | -1 | +3 |
| Simon Moser | C | 13:33 | 24 | 8 | +16 | +4 | +14 |
| Paul Gaustad | C | 13:32 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 0 | +3 |
| Eric Nystrom | L | 12:35 | 19 | 7 | +12 | +2 | +11 |
| Matt Hendricks | C | 12:32 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 0 | -2 |
| Colin Wilson | C | 12:21 | 12 | 8 | +4 | +1 | +4 |
| Rich Clune | L | 11:21 | 11 | 5 | +6 | +3 | +5 |
| Mike Fisher | C | 11:17 | 18 | 9 | +9 | +3 | +8 |
| David Legwand | C | 11:14 | 9 | 5 | +4 | -1 | +4 |
| Gabriel Bourque | L | 11:12 | 9 | 5 | +4 | -1 | +4 |
| Matt Cullen | C | 11:04 | 12 | 7 | +5 | +1 | +5 |
| Viktor Stalberg | L | 1:42 | 2 | 0 | +2 | +1 | +2 |
| Kevin Klein | D | 17:06 | 12 | 8 | +4 | +3 | +3 |
| Roman Josi | D | 17:05 | 23 | 9 | +14 | +1 | +14 |
| Shea Weber | D | 17:01 | 25 | 7 | +18 | +1 | +18 |
| Mattias Ekholm | D | 16:05 | 9 | 10 | -1 | +3 | -2 |
| Ryan Ellis | D | 12:51 | 15 | 10 | +5 | 0 | +5 |
| Joe Piskula | D | 12:12 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 0 | +4 |
Tampa Bay Lightning Advanced Stats
| Player | Pos | ES TOI | Total Shots For | Total Shots Against | Corsi | Net Zone Starts | Adjusted Corsi |
| Steven Stamkos | C | 15:28 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| Jonathan Drouin | L | 14:13 | 12 | 20 | -8 | +2 | -9 |
| Brett Connolly | R | 13:46 | 8 | 19 | -11 | +1 | -11 |
| Teddy Purcell | R | 12:01 | 10 | 11 | -1 | +1 | -1 |
| Valtteri Filppula | C | 11:50 | 9 | 10 | -1 | +1 | -1 |
| Tom Pyatt | C | 11:36 | 4 | 13 | -9 | -4 | -7 |
| Nate Thompson | C | 11:16 | 4 | 10 | -6 | -2 | -5 |
| Nikita Kucherov | R | 10:44 | 7 | 12 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| Pierre-Cedric Labrie | L | 10:31 | 5 | 5 | 0 | -1 | +0 |
| J.T. Brown | R | 10:01 | 5 | 10 | -5 | -3 | -4 |
| Dana Tyrell | C | 8:55 | 4 | 12 | -8 | -3 | -7 |
| B.J. Crombeen | R | 8:47 | 3 | 7 | -4 | -2 | -3 |
| Andrej Sustr | D | 18:28 | 11 | 19 | -8 | -2 | -7 |
| Eric Brewer | D | 18:07 | 9 | 24 | -15 | -4 | -13 |
| Mark Barberio | D | 14:43 | 8 | 17 | -9 | -1 | -9 |
| Victor Hedman | D | 14:30 | 11 | 13 | -2 | +1 | -2 |
| Dmitry Korobov | D | 14:24 | 5 | 17 | -12 | -4 | -10 |
| Sami Salo | D | 12:25 | 10 | 9 | +1 | +2 | +0 |
Boxscore – Game Summary – Event Summary
More from On the Forecheck:
- Nashville Predators Drop to #38 in ESPN’s Ultimate Team Ranking
- Tuesday’s Dump & Chase: Preds Look to Settle the Score With Hated Lightning
- Seth Jones Season Preview: A New Hope
- Nashville Predators Training Camp: Austin Watson Among 6 Assigned to Milwaukee
- Monday’s Dump & Chase: Fight! Fight! Fight!/