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Nashville Predators 3, Winnipeg Jets 1: Jets Know Hutton

The Nashville Predators stepped into a notoriously raucous MTS Center for the first time ever to face new division foe Winnipeg. Riding high on the last minute heroics of Seth Jones in Montreal last night, many were curious how they would follow it up tonight. The answer? Splendiforously.

The first period was back and forth, but Nashville took the reigns in the second period. Despite Winnipeg turning on the jets in final frame, goals from Eric Nystrom, Patric Hornqvist, and Matt Cullen, and some spectacular play by Carter Hutton, were enough to power the Preds to their first Central division win.

Random Observations

  • Whatever expectations fans had for Hutton coming into the game were exceeded tonight. In his first start for the Predators (second of his career) he made the stops he needed to make, was able to see through screens, and even flashed his glove a few times. The only blemish to his stat sheet came by way of a very slow whistle.

  • 200 feet away, yeesh. Ondrej Pavelec made a few too many mistakes tonight, and they showed up on scoreboard. I’m still waiting for him to get credited with the primary assist on Hornqvists goal. The Preds only fired seven shots in his direction in the second period. They scored three times.

  • Whether you fault him (Pavelec) for the shorthanded goal or not, and I definitely think a case can be made, what a wicked shot by Nystrom. He has looked excellent so far this season, and has definitely been the fourth line’s best player.

  • Seth Jones should feel honored to have drawn the ire of the Winnipeg faithful tonight, if for no other reason than it means he’s doing something to get noticed
  • Evander Kane had 10 (!) shots on goal tonight.

  • We’ve talked about it before, but the way Nashville tends to sit back in games and let their opponents take over is irksome. Granted, they were noticeable tired by the end of the game, which is to be expected when you play two nights in a row. Still, it’s not great to let a team get back into the game, especially when they made a strong team like St. Louis pay last time out.

BoxscoreGame SummaryEvent SummaryFancy Stats

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