Roman Josi scored twice during the third period as Roman and the Nashville Predators extended their point streak to 14 games by defeating Seattle Kraken 4-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Saturday.
Nashville Predators vs Seattle Kraken
“He’s probably, in my estimation, one of the world’s best defensemen,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette noted of Aiken. “He consistently takes over games like today and leads by example for us – his play and leadership are indispensable. We rely heavily on him.”
Filip Forsberg scored both goals and assists, Tommy Novak scored, Ryan McDonagh had two assists for both Mark Jankowski and himself, and Ryan McDonagh recorded three helpers of their own. At the same time, Juuse Saros made 23 saves during this seven-game winning streak for Nashville (39-25-4).
Nashville has not lost in regulation since losing to Dallas 9-2 on February 15.
Roman Josi Goals
Brunette noted, “For us, it is more about understanding our identity and playing at a higher level to sustain such streak runs or high levels of play. “We don’t look backward; instead, we focus on being better each day while working toward growing and strengthening our game.
Andre Burakovsky scored for the Kraken (28-26-12), who have lost all five home games on this five-game homestand (0-3-1). Philipp Grubauer made 26 saves.
Seattle forward Kailer Yamamoto raved, “[The Predators were] great tonight… They were fast against our defense and very effective on breakouts; as far as O-zone pressure goes, they couldn’t take much from us.”
Novak Nashville
Novak gave Nashville an early 1-0 advantage at 15:36 of the first period when his cross-crease pass intended for Luke Evangelista banked off of Seattle defenseman Justin Schultz and into an open net.
Burakovsky tied it 1-1 at 1:24 of the third period on a power-play goal scored from an assist by Ryker Evans above the right circle, skating all the way to the faceoff dot, taking a feed from him on the way down before firing over Saros’ glove for goal.
“We made an outstanding power play to level things at 1-1 for us at the start of the third period,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol commented, noting “at that point in the game.”
Nashville took back the lead 2-1 when Josi scored at 3 minutes and 59 seconds via a power-play goal on an unintentional rebound shot from Forsberg at the bottom right circle that went over Grubauer’s glove.
NHL Game Recap
“I thought that was a really nice play,” Josi noted afterward. “We got them low. Fil made an outstanding play in front of the net that almost resulted in his own goal, and then the puck just kept bouncing backward. At first, I considered passing, but there was so much traffic right in front of us, so I just tried my hardest to get it through.”
At 9:03, Josi made it 3-1 after Jankowski won an offensive-zone faceoff back to McDonagh and fed it right back for him at the blue line.
“That was exactly the kind of play we try to set up often off of faceoffs,” Josi stated. “Jankowski won cleanly, while our goalie probably couldn’t see too much, thus providing a nice screen. “
Jankowski noted: “It’s always rewarding when you can win a faceoff and score assists for just doing your part, like with him back there ripping pucks like that if it pays off well for us in terms of wins in faceoffs – usually positive results are forthcoming for that guy!”
At 18:40, Forsberg scored into an empty net to give them victory in 4-1 fashion.
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