Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators

The Predators wanted to put forth a better effort in front of goaltender Juuse Saros. On Saturday night, they got a nearly perfect effort from the man himself.

Saros made 33 saves through 65 minutes – and turned away five more opportunities in the shootout – as Nashville defeated the New Jersey Devils, 2-1, at Bridgestone Arena.

The result gives the Preds a clean sweep of their three-game homestand, as well as a perfect record against the Devils to conclude the season series between the two.

“It was a really great hockey game,” Preds center Ryan Johansen said. “The Devils played really well, for having to play back-to-back hockey games; they worked really hard and made it tough on us. It was huge for us to find a way to get it done.”

Frederick Gaudreau provided the only goal through the game’s first 40 minutes as he potted a rebound for his second of the season with less than two minutes to play in the first period. Nashville had a power-play goal called back due to goaltender interference in the middle frame, negating what would have been Roman Josi’s sixth.

It looked as though Saros might be on his way to his second shutout of the season, but Brian Boyle evened the score with less than two minutes to play in regulation to send both the Preds and Devils to overtime for the third consecutive meeting.

Both clubs traded chances in OT, and in the shootout, it was Ryan Ellis and Johansen who played the role of heroes to earn the extra point.

“It’s a huge win,” Gaudreau said. “Juuse did such a great job in the shootout and the whole game. It’s a big win.”

From here, the Predators will head back out on the road for a four-game trip, and they’ll try to do something they haven’t done in over a month – collect a win away from Nashville.

“It was important to get three wins after coming off the road and losing a couple,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “We have some games here before Christmas. The road is something we’ve talked about. We have to do a better job. I don’t think that we played the right way or been competitive enough on the road, so there’s an opportunity coming up where we have a stretch of road games and a chance to fix that. We’ll be ready to play.”

Juice Is Loose:

Peter Laviolette didn’t mince words prior to Saturday’s game.

The bench boss believed his club wasn’t playing up to their high standards when Juuse Saros was tending the net as of late, calling recent efforts in front of No. 74: “lousy.”

Just hours after Laviolette issued the challenge, his group responded, and the man tending the cage did his part as well to clinch a satisfying shootout victory, the first such triumph of his career.

“I have to thank the guys for that; they let me see the puck and didn’t give up too many scoring chances,” Saros said. “They played great in front of me.”

“We played a more complete game,” Johansen said. “For [Saros] to come in and play the way he did was awesome. Overall, everyone on the team played great tonight.”

Not only was the defensive effort in front of Saros much improved, the play of the goaltender himself was also admirable. Saros made save after save in regulation, and after allowing a goal on the first shot of the shootout, he battled back to stymie the rest of the Devils on the way to his eighth victory of the season.

All night long, extended cheers of “Juuuusssse” rained down from the sellout crowd, and for good reason.

“He was really good,” Laviolette said of Saros. “There wasn’t a lot that tested him in the first two periods. I think sometimes that can be more challenging where you’re taking the hardest hits late in the game, in the third period, in the overtime, in the shootout, when you’re called on the most. That’s when he really shined for me. He got better as the game went on.”

Notes:

Anthony Bitetto and Zac Rinaldo were scratched for the Preds on Saturday.

Nashville is now 10-0-0 against the Eastern Conference this season.

The Preds have earned a point in eight consecutive games (4-0-4) against the Devils at Bridgestone Arena dating back to Nov. 19, 2009.

With the homestand now complete, the Predators will head out on the road for a four-game set prior to the Christmas break next week. The first stop comes in Ottawa on Monday, followed by visits to Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston.

Jacey Vaughn of CHS Basketball

In a pair of physical, up tempo games, the Coffee County CHS basketball teams visited Cookeville on Friday.  In a rematch from last Saturday night, the Lady Raiders gutted out a 66 to 56 win.  The Red Raiders trailed from start to finish in a 78 to 46 loss.

The Lady Raiders had to hold off a fast and physical start by Cookeville as they fell behind by as many as 5 points in the first half.  Trailing by 1 entering the second half, Coffee County held Cookeville to 6 points in the 3^rd quarter to lead by 13 entering the final period.  Coffee County was led in scoring by Bella Vinson who finished with 20 points.  Jacey Vaughn added 17 points, including five 1^st National Bank 3 pointers to be named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  Abby Morgan poured in 15 points as the Lady Raiders improved to 12 and 0 on the season.

Kyle Farless of CHS basketball

The Red Raiders fell behind 9 to 0 in the boys’ game before finally getting on the board in the final 3 minutes of the 1^st quarter.  After trailing by as many as 12, Coffee County cut the deficit to 2 points halfway through the 2^nd quarter.  But Cookeville outscored the Raiders 21 to 6 in the final 4 minutes of the first half to seize control of the game.  Coffee County could not get any closer than 15 points in the second half as the Cavaliers captured the season sweep of the Red Raiders.  Darius Rozier led Coffee County in scoring with 15 points.  Kyle Farless came off the bench to score 11 as he was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.  C.J. Anthony had 8 points and Hayden Hullett added 5 points in the final quarter.

Coffee County returns to the road on Saturday night when they travel to Nashville to take on Nashville Central Christian.  Tip off for the girls’ game is 6 PM, Thunder Radio begins live coverage at 5:50 with the Powers Storage Pregame Show.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Olivia Vinson of CCMS basketball

The Coffee County Middle School basketball teams hosted conference rival Harris on Thursday night.  In a pair of games you heard here Thunder Radio, Coffee Middle used strong first halves to capture the conference sweep.   The Lady Raiders won 38 to 24 while the  Raiders won by a score of 40 to 34.

In the girls’ game, the Lady Raiders dominated the first half as they built a double digit lead.  Chloe Gannon and Olivia Vinson each had 10 points to lead Coffee County in scoring.  Alivia Reel and Abby Mahaffey each finished with 6 for the Lady Raiders.  For her efforts, Vinson was named the Crazy Daisies player of the game.

Jacob Holder of CCMS basketball[File Photo]

The Raiders and Lady Raiders will travel to Woodbury on Monday night for a battle with Cannon County.  The girls’ game will tip off at 6 PM.

Download the broadcast at: http://www.thunder1320.com/downloads/

Landon Abellana(#3 in purple) uses a cross-over dribble against Brady Sizemore(#11 in gray) of College Street

The Coffee County Elementary Basketball League played the boys’ semifinal round of their postseason tournament on Thursday night.  This pair of boys’ semifinal games set up the boys’ championship and consolation match ups which will be held on Saturday.

In the first semifinal, Deerfield used a big 2^nd half to pull away for North Coffee for the 36 to 21 win.  With the Bucks leading 16 to 15 at half, Deerfield outscored the Chargers 10 to 1 in the 3^rd quarter to take the win.  Landon Abellana was the leading scorer for Deerfield with 24 points.  Jase Cashion added 8 points.  For North, the leading scorer was Presley Rooker who had 16 points.

Riley Evans (#10 in yellow) of College Street attacks the basket against Neyland Grant(#14 in blue) of Westwood on Thursday night.

In the second semifinal, College Street scored 8 points in the final minute of the 1^st quarter to build a double digit lead they would never surrender.  College Street rolled to the 36 to 16 win as 9 different players scored in the game.  The Cougars were led in scoring by Blake Cummings with 8 points.  Matt Moore and Kaysen Lowery both finished with 6 points.  Westwood was led in scoring by Lane Fann who had 10 points.

Semifinal Results and Finals schedule