Cody Glass scored his first NHL hat trick, and the Nashville Predators extended their winning streak to eight games with a 5-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.
It was Nashville’s eighth straight victory, matching the second-longest winning streak in franchise history. The win also launched Nashville into the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff standings with 72 points.
“I just liked our relentlessness,” Predators head coach Andrew Brunette said. “I think we’re connected. We’re taking away time and space at a high level right now, and that comes from work ethic. It comes from trust, and that comes from being connected and kind of all pulling the same rope. We understand where we are, we understand what we’re doing, and we’re having fun doing it. It’s been a great run and well-deserved.”
‘Tonight Was Cody’s Night’
Glass gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 15:18 of the first period, beating Alexandar Georgiev five-hole from the slot off a pass from Colton Sissons on the rush. He then put the Predators ahead 2-1 late in the second period with a one-timer from the slot.
“I think I was just finding the right areas,” Glass said. “Scorers go through different phases of different things during a season. Sometimes you find the open areas, and sometimes you don’t. Today, I just felt like I was finding those open areas. I had really good passes on all three goals, so I can’t take credit for all of it.”
Glass completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third period. It was the first multi-goal performance of his NHL career.
“I think it’s a pretty special moment,” Brunette said. “I think he’s obviously had an up and down season, and I think it’s fun for the group to perform as much as they did. I thought Ryan McDonagh made an unbelievable pass play to get it to him, and it was almost like they were more excited than he was. That’s part of being a team when you’re in something special when everybody’s rooting as hard as they are for each other. They care about [each other’s] success night in and night out, and tonight was Cody’s night.”
As the game’s final seconds ticked away, McDonagh dished out a selfless feed to Glass, who launched the puck into the back of Colorado’s empty net for the 5-1 final.
“I think that was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been,” Glass chuckled. “I was like, I might as well try and shoot it and see what happens. [McDonagh] was looking for me and found me… It was a good feeling.”
Saros Saves the Day
Juuse Saros was dominant between the pipes, allowing just one goal from Nathan MacKinnon before shutting down his dangerous breakaway chance late in the second period to keep Nashville in the lead.
“That was obviously a huge save,” Brunette said. “It was kind of an unlucky bounce off the wall and arguably one of the best players in the League, if not the best, and he made a great save. [MacKinnon] got him upstairs the first time, and I don’t think Juice was going to let that go twice.”
Clutch 🧃 save with 26 seconds until the 2nd intermission 🫨@PredsNHL l #Preds pic.twitter.com/pTqWLU4RRD
— Bally Sports: Preds (@PredsOnBally) March 3, 2024
Saros turned aside 25 shots and earned his sixth win in as many starts for the Predators. He has recorded a 1.34 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage during the six-game span.
“He’s just making some huge saves and looking really confident in there,” Sissons said. “It’s just like we’re used to seeing him, but he makes big saves. The breakaway save on MacKinnon there to keep us in the game and keep the lead, things like that make a huge difference down the stretch.”
Another Dominant Third
The Predators entered the third period with a 2-1 lead but didn’t stop there. They scored three unanswered goals and outshot the Avalanche 16-7 in the final frame.
“Obviously, in the first two periods, we did some good things, but we didn’t want to sit back,” Ryan O’Reilly said. “We were in a good spot with the lead, but we knew we had to keep the pressure on and stay on them… It’s just about staying aggressive in those times. When it gets tight, you can’t back away, especially against a team like that with their skill. If we let our foot off the gas, they’re going to make us pay.”
Dominant third periods have been a trend as of late for Nashville, who outshot the Ottawa Senators 19-0 in the final frame of a 4-1 win on Tuesday (Feb. 27) and scored three unanswered third-period goals against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (Feb. 29).
Related: ‘Battle Tested’ Predators Defeat Wild for 7th Straight Win
“I think it’s a little bit of growth, a little bit of understanding,” Brunette said of his team’s ability to close out games. “I think early on, we lost a little bit of our composure and probably weren’t connected; that was a big thing in the third period. Now that we’re starting to get a little confidence, I thought we’ve dictated instead of letting the other team dictate to us, and I think that’s been a big thing. We didn’t change our game. Early in the year, I think at times, maybe we did a little bit. Now we have a little bit of the recipe of how to do things the right way, and we’re all buying in.”
Up Next
The Predators will look for their ninth straight victory on Tuesday (March 5) when they host the Montreal Canadiens in Nashville.
