In Nashville on Monday night, the Predators regained some of their swagger as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 3-2, after the skills competition.
P.K. Subban struck for a goal and added an assist in the win.
“We just wanted to focus on what we had to do,” Subban said. “We’ve got a job to do and we’re at home. We want to get some more wins at home, too. I think we’ve dropped enough wins this year at home (21-12-1), so we wanted to focus and we knew that regardless of where this team was in the standings, we knew they’d been playing well of late. I thought we did a good job of tilting the ice in the second period.”
The Preds leapfrogged the Winnipeg Jets to reclaim first in the Central Division.
“I still always think I haven’t played my best game yet,” Subban said. “I haven’t had my best year yet. This year has been a tough year so far, but I’m just trying to push it the last couple games here and get myself back to where I know I can be and dominate games. Personally, I’m not too happy with my year. Obviously, I’d like to be healthier and play better, but all you can do is focus on what’s in front of you. Being sick for the past two days and not skating or doing anything, I’m pretty happy with my game today.”
Colton Sissons also scored for the Predators in regulation when he tied the game at 1-1.
“It’s always a weird feeling on Trade Deadline day,” Sissons said. “You never know what’s going to happen, and [it’s] a little bit stressful. So everyone kind of had to regain their focus heading into puck drop tonight, too.”
Leon Draisaitl scored both goals for the Oilers.
“I thought we played really good,” Draisaitl said. “Obviously, they’re a hard team to play against here. The crowd gets into it and they feed off that, so I thought we played really well. I think we deserved the point, and obviously the shootout is always a little bit of luck involved in that.”
The Oilers dropped to 26-29-7.
Brian Boyle‘s strike in the skills competition clinched the game for Nashville.
[WATCH: All Oilers vs. Predators highlights]
Mikko Koskinen made 36 saves in the loss.
“He’s (Draisaitl) playing 25 minutes a night, winning draws, doing the details of the game, scoring goals. He’s playing up and down the ice, super hard minutes against the other team’s best line, best defensive pairing. I hope he takes this and runs forward,” Alex Chiasson said after the loss.
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