They looked great all night long, and by the time it was over, the Predators felt great too.

Sporting their NHL Winter Classic uniforms in front of a Bridgestone Arena White Out, Craig Smith scored a power-play goal late in the third period to give Nashville a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

The result gives the Preds a much-desired win heading into the bye week, but it was the way they won – an “identity win,” as Head Coach John Hynes likes to say – that brought about some additional satisfaction in the Nashville locker room.

“These games sometimes are always a little bit iffy because there is a break, but I thought that the mental focus, the effort, the intensity level, the commitment to play the game the right way, managing the puck, puck battles, shot blocking, defensive structure – those things were all there,” Hynes said. “One of the biggest things we wanted to see was our intensity level in the offensive zone rise for extended time… and we did that tonight. When you play that way, you have to play hard. You have to be committed, and tonight we had a committed effort and got rewarded for it.”

“Huge win, big two points,” Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne said. “The way we played the game feels good. I think we needed that kind of game. It’s a close game, it’s a one-goal game and we came from behind. We had to play good defensively, had to grind it out, and had to kill some penalties. I think all the areas that we want to improve, we did an extremely good job. So, I think that makes everybody happy. At this point in the year it doesn’t matter how these wins come, but the way we played makes it feel better.”

Buffalo took a 1-0 lead late in the first period courtesy of Sam Reinhart, but roughly six minutes into the middle frame, Ryan Johansen threw a puck into the crease that bounced off a Sabres defender and into the net to even the score through 40 minutes.

“It feels great,” Johansen said of the win. “I didn’t like our last game and really didn’t want to go into the break without executing a good game plan. We executed a good game plan tonight.”

The Preds produced offensive chances throughout the evening, and that pressure continued in the third with Matt Duchene drawing a penalty on Jack Eichel as regulation time wound down. It took just seven seconds for Smith to tally the winner.

A face-off win led to a perfectly executed play from Kyle Turris, who found Smith in the high slot, and after the winger’s initial redirection hit the post behind Linus Ullmark, the puck came out and bounced back in off the Buffalo goaltender to give the Predators the only lead they’d need.

“It’s really just a quick hit, spread them out and find a lane and try to get a stick on the puck,” Smith said of the play. “It’s just part of our power play that we’ve kind of been working on lately. It was a good pass by [Turris]. It was a good heads-up play.”

Rinne finished with 30 saves on the night for his 16th victory on the season, and the netminder was quite satisfied with what he saw in front of him over the course of the 60-minute outing.

“[Coach Hynes] is very direct, and there’s no question marks on the way he wants us to play the game,” Rinne said. “The Anaheim game was emotional or whatever reason it was, it was a flat game. Then we had long meetings, talked about things and worked on things on the ice. There’s no question marks for anybody in our game, and that’s the way it should look. When we had to kill the game or when we had to kill the clock, I think we did an extremely good job at the end of the game.”

At this juncture, every game is important for the Predators – that’s a given. But considering the situation – a week away from the rink and a time to decompress, recharge and rejuvenate – the last thing the group wanted was a three-game losing streak to dominate the thought process over the next seven days.

That won’t be an issue now, and while the Preds will undoubtedly use this time away to their advantage, there’s already a desire to get back for the final 10 weeks of the regular season – and hopefully a few more.

“It’s a great time for all of us to have a really good identity win,” Hynes said. “We get some time away, and then we’ve got to come back and be ready to go.”

“I’m very excited, but at the same time I’m already eager to get back playing,” Rinne said of the break. “Hopefully, it’s a good time for us. It’s going to be so important for us when we come back. Hopefully we can use this win to enjoy the break, but at the same time come back refreshed, energized and ready to go.”

Notes:

Ryan Johansen is now on a personal 12-game point streak versus Buffalo, in which he’s tallied 13 points (4g-9a). He’s recorded a point in 14 of his 17 career games against the Sabres (4g-12a).

After assigning Yakov Trenin, Alexandre Carrier and Jarred Tinordi back to Milwaukee on Friday, Austin Watson and Matt Irwin re-entered the Predators lineup on Saturday night.

Prior to Saturday’s game, Preds Head Coach John Hynes said he expects forward Colton Sissons (Injured Reserve) to resume practicing with the team soon after they return from the bye week. A timetable on defenseman Ryan Ellis’s (Injured Reserve) return is uncertain, but the associate captain is working his way through protocol to get back on the ice soon.

Nashville’s bye week has arrived, and later in the week, Preds Captain Roman Josi will represent his club at 2020 NHL All-Star Weekend in St. Louis. The All-Star Skills Competition takes place on Friday night at 7 p.m. CT before the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday evening, also at 7 p.m. Stay tuned to NashvillePredators.com for full coverage with Josi in St. Louis.

The Coffee County CHS wrestling teams welcomed Riverdale and St. Andrews-Sewanee to the Coffee County Raider Academy on Thursday might for Senior Night.  Hosting their final home meet of the year, the Red Raider wrestlers captured a pair of wins while the Lady Raiders tied St. Andrew’s in their head to head competition. 

The Lady Raiders tied St. Andrews-Sewanee 12 to 12.  Mary Anne Walker(132 pound class) and Alanna Coker(112) each got pinfall wins for Coffee County.  Walker pinned her opponent in 93 seconds while Coke managed the feat in 96 seconds.  Mary Wolfrum(132) got a pin in an exhibition win for the Lady Raiders as the Lady Lions and Lady Raiders settled for a 12 to 12 tie. 

The Red Raiders dispatched the Lions 59 to 12.  Coffee County’s lone senior, Chris Speegle(220) captured a pinfall win to lead the Raiders.  Also grabbing pins were Zack Speegle(170), Russell Ralph(182), Cardin Stump(285), Dalton Long(120) and Caleb Boothe(132).  Coffee County got forfeit wins from Gavin Prater(145), Devin Judge(160) and Hunter Massey(126). Jeremiah Wardell got a technical fall win as he beat his opponent in points 15 to 0. 

Against Riverdale, Coffee County battled to a 45 to 38 win.  Chris Speegle(220) captured a forfeit win for the Raiders.  Also grabbing forfeit wins were Hunter Massey(126), Jeremiah Wardell(106), and Caleb Boothe(132).  Gavin Prater(145) got a 10 to 4 decision win for Coffee County.  Grabbing pinfall wins were Devin Judge(160), Zack Galey(170), and Cardin Stump(285).

The Raider grapplers will head to Sewanee on Saturday for the Mt. Top Invitational.  Action gets underway at 9 AM. 

The Westwood Middle School basketball teams traveled to Warren County on Thursday night for their final regular season games of the year.   Taking on Centertown in a pair of games you heard here on Thunder Radio, both Rocket teams grabbed wins and regular season conference titles.  The Lady Rockets finished the regular season unbeaten as they stopped the Lady Warriors 32 to 21.  The Rockets avenged their only 2 losses of the year with a 37 to 27 victory. 

In the girls’ game, Westwood got a strong start and a strong finish to capture the win.  The Lady Rockets got the first 10 points of the game and ended the game on a 6 to 1 run to run their record to 15 and 0 on the season.   After Centertown cut the Lady Rockets lead to 3 points with 55 seconds to go in the 3^rd period, Bryleigh Gray hit a huge 3 point basket to key a 6 point run for Westwood.  After Centertown cut the deficit to 6 points in the 4^th quarter, Allie Sullivan hit a pair of clutch free throws to give Westwood a late cushion.  Princess Penaloza was the leading scorer for Westwood as she had 10 points.  Keena Seivers added 8 points in the win. 

In the boys’ game, Westwood pushed a 2 point halftime lead to 7 points in the 3^rd quarter to seize control of the game.  In the 4^th quarter, Centertown came out of their zone defense to attempt to force Westwood turnovers.  The Rockets showed patience and good ball movement in the final 6 minutes to get the win and claim the regular season conference title with a regular season record of 13 and 2 and a conference record of 11 and 1.  Caiden Warren led Westwood in scoring with 16 points.  Jayden Carter added 9 points and Jaiden Warren netted 8 for the Rockets. 

Westwood will open up conference tournament play next week at the Warren County High School.  The Lady Rockets and Rockets will get 1^st round byes and advance to Thursday night’s semifinals.  The Lady Rockets will play at 4:30 PM and the Rockets will play at 5:45.  Their opponents will be decided during Saturday and Monday’s quarterfinal rounds. 

Download the broadcast at: www.ThunderRadio1320.com/downloads

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams entered Thursday night’s semifinal round with the tall task of beating Warren County in McMinnville.  Both games were intense from start to finish and both games went to overtime.  The Lady Raiders pulled out a 37 to 36 win while the Red Raiders fell 35 to 32. 

In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders rolled out to an 11 to 4 lead only to see Warren County chip at that lead and tie the game at 21 heading to the 4^th quarter.  Tied at 32 entering overtime, Warren County pulled ahead 36 to 35 as time was running out.  Olivia Vinson hit the game winning basket to lift the Lady Raiders to Friday night’s conference title game.  Vinson finished with 10 points leading Coffee County in scoring.  Taylor Anthony added 8 points while Bella Lawson chipped in 6 points as the Lady Raiders improved to 17 and 4 on the season.

The Red Raiders erased a 6 point halftime deficit to take a 1 point lead entering the wild and wooly 4^th quarter.  The Red Raiders got a 3 point basket from Brendon Sheppard to tie the game at the end of regulation and send the game to overtime.  In overtime, Warren County got a basket and a free throw with 4.7 seconds left to grab the win.  The Red Raiders were held to 2 free throws in the overtime period as they fell to 15 and 5 on the season.  Sheppard and Cooper Reed each had 10 points to lead Coffee Middle in scoring.  Ethan Hargrove finished with 9 points. 

The Lady Raiders will return to Warren County High School on Friday night as they will square off against White County in the CTC Championship game.  That game will tip off at 6 PM.  The Red Raiders will return to the court on Friday, January 24^th as they will compete in the TMSAA Area Tournament at Coffee County Middle School.   By virtue of their regular season performance, the Red Raiders earned the #1 seed and will take on the winner of Wednesday’s game between Spring Hill and White County.  Friday’s game will tip off at 6 PM.   

Viktor Arvidsson and Mikael Granlund tallied for the Predators, but it wasn’t enough, as Nashville fell to the Anaheim Ducks by a 4-2 final on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The result sees the Preds finish with a 1-1-1 record in the season series against the Ducks, and it’s Nashville’s second-straight loss by the same score.

After returning from a three-game trip, the Predators were left disappointed by another loss at home in a contest that saw too many lulls.

“It feels like when we go down 1-0 or 2-0, we’re just kind of dead on the bench,” Preds forward Rocco Grimaldi said. “That’s something we’ve got to take out of our game. We’re going to get down in games, it’s going to happen. We’re going to get down by a couple goals, but we can’t just kind of sit and be like, ‘oh, here we go again.’ I feel like sometimes that’s how the mindset on the bench is when it gets quiet and we start getting down 1-0 or 2-0. If we can just clean that up and say, ‘whatever, it’s 2-0, there’s still 45 minutes left,’ I think we’ll be better off.”

“One of the biggest things in sports is you have to have mental toughness,” Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. “You have to have some fortitude to be able to push through things, mental focus, and I think that when you really look at today’s game, some of the goals we gave up… These are all little detail things that need to be addressed. I’ve got to do a better job of making sure that our attention to detail and execution of key points in the game are there. And then the second part comes back to, you earn your confidence. No one’s going to give a group confidence. In the end you go out by playing the game the right way, sticking together as a group, having pushback in your game, and that’s an area that needs to get better.”

Anaheim took a 2-0 lead in the opening period, thanks to goals from Josh Manson and Adam Henrique, but before the first frame was out, Arvidsson tipped home a Roman Josi shot for his 11th of the season to get the Preds on the board.

Rickard Rakell scored the only goal of the second stanza, and Derek Grant tallied shorthanded in the third to go up by three. Granlund got Nashville’s second, when he added a shorthanded goal of his own late in the game, but that was as close as the Preds came to tying the score.

“We played well for good stretches of the game, especially in the second period,” Grimaldi said. “We had a lot of good, grade-A chances, but [Ducks goaltender John Gibson] made a lot of good saves. At the end of the day we’ve got to have more of a 60-minute, full effort. I thought there were times that we were lacking, and I think that probably cost us.”

“We have the best crowd in the League, and for some reason we can’t find a way to win games at home,” Preds Captain Roman Josi said. “Every time we step on the ice we should be flying right away, getting the crowd into it and dominating other teams. It’s not happening right now, and it’s definitely something to talk about.”

The Predators have one more game prior to the bye week and NHL All-Star Weekend, and they would certainly prefer to enter that period of rest and relaxation with a victory. As Hynes said, the team has to help themselves if they’re to do so.

“When the game is in the balance and they’re tight games, you can’t beat yourself,” Hynes said. “And it’s two things: We’ve got to stop beating ourselves, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re going to come out and we’re not going to throw the word confidence or those things around. You’ve got to earn it. We’ve got to earn it by how we work, how we prepare and how we play. That’s what we have to do moving forward.”

Notes:

Defenseman Jarred Tinordi assisted on Mikael Granlund’s goal for his first point as a member of the Preds.

The Predators have one more game before the bye week and All-Star Break, a matchup with the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in Nashville. It will be a Winter Classic White Out at Bridgestone Arena, and the Preds will sport their Winter Classic jerseys for the evening. All fans will receive a T-shirt and Predators Season-Ticket Citizens, with their STC ID, will be offered free small sodas.