Ryan McDonagh, Roman Josi lead Predators past Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1
NASHVILLE, TN - DECEMBER 07: Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Tanner Jeannot (84) attempts to play the deflected puck as Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) and goalie Juuse Saros (74) defend during the NHL game between the Nashville Predator
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Ryan McDonagh and Roman Josi each had a goal and an assist, and the Nashville Predators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 on Thursday night.
Juuso Parssinen, Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin also scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville, which has won three straight and nine of 11.
Alex Barré-Boulet scored and Jonas Johansson made 25 saves for the Lightning, who had their two-game winning streak snapped.
The Predators went 2-for-3 on the power play while holding the Lightning scoreless on their four chances with the man advantage. It was the first multiple power-play goal game for Nashville in more than a month. Tampa Bay entered Thursday with the NHL’s second-best power play success rate at 31.9%.
"I’m really happy for the penalty kill to step up the way they did against arguably one of the greatest power plays of all time," Predators coach Andrew Brunette said.
Barré-Boulet scored the game’s first goal with 6:28 remaining in the opening period on a one-timer from the right circle.
Parssinen tied it 1-1 with 2:46 left in the first on the power play. McDonagh’s shot from the right point hit Philip Tomasino in the slot and the puck landed right on Parssinen’s stick, and he beat Johansson with a wrist shot on the glove side.
Forsberg’s power-play goal at 2:37 of the second gave Nashville a 2-1 lead.
Just seven seconds after Brandon Hagel was assessed a high-sticking penalty, Forsberg scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
"Obviously, power play was good, but the penalty kill was the key of the game for sure," Forsberg said. "We gave them a few too many opportunities, but that’s the game right there."
McDonagh scored when he found a loose puck on the left side and swatted a backhand past Johansson for his first goal of the season at 4:32 of the second.
"I was just trying to keep the puck alive, creep down there and keep something alive," McDonagh said. "The puck just squirted out to me and I tried to get as much as I could on it and beat the goalie back. It’s a good feeling for sure."
Trenin scored an empty-net goal with 6:47 remaining after Lightning coach Jon Cooper pulled Johansson with more than eight minutes left.
"We’re playing a decent road game, and then they get two quick ones in the second and once that happened, we didn’t punch back," Cooper said. "That’s probably the most disappointing thing about the game."