It really just is not fair. The Chicago Blackhawks were almost certainly counting on the Tampa Bay Lightning to put a damper on the Nashville Predators’ playoff aspirations.
But, no!
The Predators unloaded seven goals on the Lightning in a 7-2 win on Tuesday to add two more points to their cause in the Central.
“I don’t care who is in net, ever,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “You can bring back Dominik Hasek or Marty Brodeur or Patrick Roy, nobody is stopping the chances we gave up tonight.”
Viktor Arvidsson struck for two goals in the home ice win.
“I think I’ve played fast a lot this year,” Arvidsson said. “I think I’ve made better reads so I can get loose, getting behind the [defense] sometimes and making reads that my [defensemen] are able to make the plays. I think the speed has been there. It’s just trusting my [defensemen] and trusting my reads.”
Juuse Saros made 21 saves in the win.
Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde were the Lightning scorers.
“If we want to get to where we want to be, we’ve got to put in the work here and get back to playing in sync,” the Lightning’s Ryan McDonagh said. “And at least starting with good effort, or halfway-decent effort. That was not even close.”
Roman Josi and Tanner Jeannot (first NHL goal) scored for Nashville.
“It’s something I’m going to remember the rest of my life, for sure,” Jeannot said. “But bigger and more importantly, we got the win tonight against a really good team. I thought it was a really good team effort all the way around.
“They had some pushback in the second period there, but everyone answered the bell. We had a good answer, good game in the end and we got the win.”
Colton Sissons and Rocco Grimaldi had single markers for the Preds.
“I think confidence a lot of times is earned through hard work,” Josi said. “You’ve got to put in the work, and that’s when you get the bounces and that’s when the confidence gets bigger and bigger. I thought we did that in the last little while here. I think our work ethic is the biggest part. That’s how we’re getting bounces and that’s how we’re gaining confidence.”
Mikael Granlund finished the scoring on the night with under two minutes left in the game for the 7-2 final.
“We started really well,” Josi said. “We got a couple of goals, [and] obviously that helps. I thought they made a push in the second and
were the better team for most of the second, but [Saros] was great. He made a lot of huge saves. I liked our response in the third. It’s a big win for us against a really good team.”
Curtis McElhinney made 15 saves in the loss.
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