Predators hang on to 3-2 win over Red Wings

Scott Hartnell #17 of the Nashville Predators pounds gloves with teammates on the bench following his first period goal during an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on February 20, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Nashville Predators kept the heat on Detroit to come out with a win at Little Caesars Arena Tuesday night. Goals early on against the Red Wings late response allowed them to hold on and win 3-2. With a lot of defense between the pipes, goaltender Juuse Saros got exactly what he wanted making 34 stops to get a win out of his opponents while handing them a second straight loss.

The Red Wings look different since coming home to face the Predators who they beat on the road. Petr Mrazek who made 31 saves on Saturday got traded two days later to the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft choices in 2018 and 2019. While this was surprising news to the team and fans, Detroit still had a job to do hoping to bring a win for the first time in a week. They didn’t get the job done in their back to back game against Toronto on Sunday losing 3-2. Jimmy Howard who was in his second straight start would have a lot on his shoulders to perform as the team’s main hope between the pipes.

Detroit opened with a strong start followed by an even stronger rebuttal from the Predators.  Nashville gained momentum and answered at 4:18 with a shot from captain Roman Josi that got deflected by Scott Hartnell in front of the net to give the left winger his ninth of the season. Josi helped make it 2-0 near the midway point with the team leader firing the puck at Howard where it ended up near his left with the net slightly open. Turris viewed the scoring chance and slid the puck across the goal line with no one else there to stop him for his tenth and the team leader’s second point.

They continued to hold the score over the heads of the Red Wings while increasing the level of their offense. The Predators took a lot of energy away from Detroit who had very little answers in the second half of the period. The team did work blocking shots for Saros who didn’t want to give Detroit another win. When it came to a finish, Nashville outshot them 15-8 dominating them on the faceoff 14-8.

As the second period came into motion, the Red Wings started a man down with Nashville running the rest of their power play. Detroit killed it off and then tried to add some pucks in the Predators zone. They could not put any good scoring chances on Saros who had the defensive support holding their score up halfway through regulation.

After a big stop of a Nashville breakaway by Jimmy Howard on Viktor Arvidsson, Dylan Larkin made a play that got Detroit running. His stretch pass on the repossession got right to Andreas Athanasiou scoring alone at Saros for his 11^th to end the shutout. It was his first in 14 games and the right stuff that the Red Wings needed to make the remainder of the period theirs.

A power play being awarded to Detroit allowed them a shot at tying the game while on their first try. Despite not being able to convert, the Red Wings were lighting up the Nashville net with a couple of centering shots from Athanasiou and Gustav Nyquist who wanted to get the game level. While they did not get the second goal needed, the Detroit defense got better with Howard very much focused to give his team a shot. They finished the second outshooting them 14-7 while bettering wins at the dot.

With a goal still separating the two teams it would be up to the Red Wings to make something happen or face another defeat. They got a few in front of Saros but could not rifle one behind him. After killing off their time with the puck, Nashville ran with a fight for possession and got one with a breakaway chance to Arvidsson delivering the puck top shelf for his 21^st of the year and a recovery of their two-goal margin.

Detroit was still adamant about making it a fight to the bitter end answering with a good entrance where pushing the puck led to a lot of sticks at the five hole where Tomas Tatar got it in on his stick to score. Nashville challenged the call for goaltender interference but was denied as officials called it a good goal handing Tatar his 16^th to come back within one with 12:06 left. The battle was still on for Detroit’s offense to tie the game with the score back within reach.

Time was running out for them and despite the added improvements to their offense, getting the game forced to overtime was running out. At the two minute mark, Howard was pulled for the sixth attacker where the shots became desperate. A chance to go up 6 on 4 with 27.8 seconds was Detroit’s last chance to make It or break it. The puck was at the stick of Henrik Zetterberg who took a chance at missed wide of the net. Detroit tried to put together another good opportunity but they slipped up under the pressure falling once again.