“It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.”
That’s how Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette described his team’s 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday – their fourth win in a row and 13th in their last 16.
“I really liked our effort throughout the game,” Brunette said. “We were a little sloppy in the second period and that was penalty-induced, and we lost a little of our momentum. But I thought in the third, we managed the game really well. I know we were running out of a little bit of gas, but I was really happy with the way we played in the third.”
Juuse Saros turned aside 21 shots to earn his career-best sixth consecutive victory and pull even with Tomas Vokoun for the second-most wins in franchise history (161). With the win, the Predators improved to 18-13-0 on the season and are knocking on the door of a top-3 spot in the Central Division standings.
Number 10 for Number 10
Colton Sissons lit the lamp first for Nashville, redirecting a Roman Josi point shot into the back of the net on the power play just over five minutes into the first period. It was Sissons’ 10th goal of the season, the third-most on the Predators. Through 31 games this season, he is now just two goals shy of his 2022-23 season total of 12 and five shy of his career high of 15, set in 2018-19.
HOT START 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rifN9YjNSq
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) December 17, 2023
For the first time in his 10-year NHL career, Sissons now has multiple power-play goals in a single season. He also scored on the man advantage as part of a two-goal performance in Nashville’s 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 10. Arguably one of the most underrated two-way forwards in the league, Sissons has been an offensive threat on the penalty kill this season as well – the Predators have three shorthanded goals in 2023-24, all scored by Sissons.
“We’re finding ways to win,” Sissons said. “We’ve had games where the penalty kill stepped up huge, which we were not so happy about in the early part of the season. That’s been coming along. The power play has been scoring some timely goals. Some guys up and down the lineup have been scoring some big goals for us. All of those things kind of result in some successes along the way.”
Tommer Time
Philip Tomasino scored the go-ahead goal for Nashville in the second period, deking forehand to backhand on a breakaway to break the 1-1 tie after Washington’s lengthy shift in the Nashville zone. It was a nice reward for the young forward, who had been without a goal since Nov. 9 despite putting 30 shots on goal over his last 15 games.
TOMMER BREAKAWAY TALLY ‼️@PredsNHL regain lead, 2-1. pic.twitter.com/H6Qp8GcU8U
— Bally Sports: Preds (@PredsOnBally) December 17, 2023
“I feel like I’ve been having some pretty good chances recently,” Tomasino said. “I just want to be a guy that is in consistently and helps out our team… I think there’s still a lot of room for improvement for me, but I think when I’m given the chance, I think I’m doing a pretty good job. Going forward, I want to continue to be a guy that [Brunette] can trust in every situation and who can obviously chip in offensively as well.”
In addition to being his second goal in 2023-24, the breakaway tally was Tomasino’s first game-winning goal of the season and the fourth of his career. He also said after the game that he believed it was the first time in his NHL career that he had successfully converted on the breakaway and that the forehand-backhand move was a skill he honed in junior hockey.
“I’m actually really proud of him because he’s put a lot of work in,” Brunette said. “He hung in there, and we scratched him and played him less and tried to help him understand what my expectations are for him and the style of play and how much pace he needs to play with to play, at least to my expectation, and it’s not easy. It’s hard, and it’s different. I’m sure he wasn’t sure early, but I think the last 10-12 games he’s played really well. He’s been playing up to those expectations, and it’s nice to see him get rewarded for the work that he’s put in.”
Filthy Forsberg
Stop me if you’ve heard this before – Filip Forsberg is on fire.
Forsberg, who leads the Predators with 16 goals this season, showed on Saturday that he is just as skilled at starting the plays as he is at finishing them. He dished out an assist on Sissons’ first-period goal to extend his team lead in points (36) and power-play assists (12). He and Josi, who had the primary helper on Sissons’ goal, are tied for the team lead in assists with 20 apiece.
Related: Forsberg Climbs in Record Books as Predators Climb in Standings
Forsberg has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his last eight games. Additionally, he now has 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) in 16 career games against the team that drafted him 11th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. The Predators acquired Forsberg from Washington for Martin Erat and Michael Latta on April 3, 2013.
Up Next
The Predators return to action on Tuesday (Dec. 19) when they welcome the Vancouver Canucks back to Nashville. The Preds will look to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Canucks, who are riding a five-game point streak (4-0-1) and are currently in second place in the Western Conference standings.
