In Nashville, the Predators put on a display of their complete game. If only they would do that more often.
On Thursday night, Craig Smith notched his first NHL hat trick and the Preds demolished the New York Islanders, 5-0.
“It was great,” Smith said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to get [a hat trick], so it was nice. It was really good looks by the guys around me. They were nice feeds by [Grimaldi], good work by [Nick Bonino] and was a [heck] of a pass by [Roman Josi] there at the end.”
Juuse Saros made 31 saves in his second shutout of the season.
“You have to be real with yourself and everybody in the room and realize it’s not good enough for this time of year,” New York’s Brock Nelson said. “We just have to be better, plain and simple.”
Rocco Grimaldi and Mattias Ekholm had single markers for the Predators.
“I was disappointed in our back end, some of our guys that we rely on, some veteran guys,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “A few forwards as well. It wasn’t a good team effort at all.”
[WATCH: All Islanders vs. Predators highlights]
Thomas Griess got the start for the Islanders but was given the hook in favor of Semyon Varlamov.
“[Varlamov] came in and did a really good job,” Trotz said. “We gave up a shorthanded chance, and he made a great save. I can’t fault [Varlamov] for any of the goals, really. The goals that they did score were point-blankers.”
Griess made five saves on eight shots; Varlamov made 16 saves.
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