Nashville center Ryan Johansen

Craig Smith scored two power-play goals and Ryan Johansen finished it off in overtime, as the Nashville Predators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes by a 5-4 final on Sunday afternoon to close out the 2018 preseason.

It was a back-and-forth affair on the day with Carolina finding a way to tie the game each time Nashville took a lead. But, in the end, it was the Preds who converted when it mattered most, the perfect way to finish off the exhibition slate.

The Predators had dropped three straight coming into Sunday’s game, and more than anything, Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette wanted to see a better effort from his club. An overtime victory was an added bonus.

“We competed a lot better, generated a lot of chances and got a chance to work on a lot of things,” Laviolette said. “It’s nice to get a win. It always leaves you in a better frame of mind but a lot of it was about playing a better game than we did the last time, and I thought we accomplished that.”

Nashville’s top line converted just over four minutes into the contest, when Viktor Arvidsson found Ryan Johansen in front to take a 1-0 lead. Carolina’s Justin Williams evened the score less than three minutes later, however.

With less than five minutes to play in the opening frame, Smith sprung Kevin Fiala on a breakaway and the Preds winger beat Scott Darling for a 2-1 advantage. The Hurricanes responded once more, when Sebastian Aho tied the game again just 20 seconds later.

Carolina took five penalties in the second stanza, and Smith made them pay on one of the opportunities when he one-timed an Arvidsson feed home to give the Preds a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes.

“We moved it around well,” Smith said of the Preds power play. “We did that really well today, even with plays that were broken… The guys did a great job of keeping the play alive.”

After Carolina tied the game once more early in the third, Smith finished off a give-and-go with Filip Forsberg for his second power-play marker of the afternoon. But in a penalty-filled game that saw both teams combine for 14 power-play opportunities, eight of which went to Nashville, it was Carolina who used the man advantage to force OT with a late strike.

However, just 21 seconds into the extra time, Johansen finished it to send the Predators home with their third and final victory of the 2018 preseason.

“We definitely delivered that win,” Johansen said. “We have to stay out of the box, though. We gave them a chance to stay in it and put it to overtime, so if we limit those power-play opportunities to maybe two or three, I think it would’ve been a different score. But as long as we find a way to get it done and compete as hard as we did, that’s all that matters.”

The club will now head back to Nashville for a day off on Monday, followed by two more practices, before jetting north for an Opening Night matchup in Manhattan against the Rangers.

“We need to fine tune things here, push the pace and push the speed,” Laviolette said. “Penalties are still a problem for me, but we’ll talk about these things, get in front of the group and we’ll be ready to go to New York.”

Notes:

Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros split time in goal for the Predators on Sunday, with Saros getting credit for the victory. Rinne made 12 saves on the afternoon, while Saros stopped 14 shots.

Filip Forsberg dished out three assists on the day and co-led the team in points in the win (Smith, 2g-1a).

With the preseason schedule now complete, the Predators must be down to their opening, 23-man roster by Oct. 2 at 4 p.m. (CT).

Nashville opens the season on Thursday night in New York City against the Rangers, before meeting the Islanders in Brooklyn on Saturday. The Preds then return home to host the Calgary Flames on Oct. 9 to open the 2018-19 home schedule at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville SC earned a 1-1 draw for the second consecutive home game on Saturday night against New York Red Bulls II at First Tennessee Park. An exciting first half and thrilling final seconds book-ended an overall even matchup between the two teams.

In addition to the score, each team’s stats for possession, total passes and duals-won reflected the game’s indisputable balance, as they were practically equal in all three categories.

90 in a Nutshell

What may appear to be an average score line was actually full of action. New York’s goal in the fifth minute was the catalyst for an eventful first half. Amando Moreno got on the end of a cross from teammate Jared Stroud, and his shot took a short and clear path to the back of the net.

Less than 10 minutes later, New York had the opportunity to take an early 2-0 lead after drawing a penalty in the 14’ minute, but Nashville goalkeeper Matt Pickens stepped up to make a huge save and denied Tom Barlow’s effort.

The frenzy continued when New York’s Jose Aguinaga was shown a straight red for a cleats-up tackle, giving Nashville SC a man-up advantage for the remainder of the game. Nashville capitalized on the resulting free kick’s dangerous location when Michael Reed buried his shot to level the score 1-1.

Nashville kept up the pressure in the second half, and the team’s motivation combined with some creativity led to several chances for the home team. The chaos continued when what would have been an own-goal became a goal-line clearance by a Red Bull defender.

Added time provided even more thrill to the already exciting match as Nasvhille earned back-to-back corner kicks in the final seconds. New York’s goalkeeper Evan Louro made two ridiculous saves to deny Nashville, and even though Justin Davis managed to bicycle kick one of those deflections into the goal, he was quickly called offside to end the match.

Goals

5’ NY- Amando Moreno (assisted by Jared Stroud)

26’ NSH- Michael Reed (assisted by Liam Doyle)

PK Save

14’ NSH- Matt Pickens (shot taken by New York’s Tom Barlow)

Quotable

Nashville SC Head Coach Gary Smith

“There were some very exciting moments where the pass, choice or finish wasn’t quite up to scratch. In the end, Matt [Pickens]’ penalty save really is what gave us what I think will be a very valuable point. I’ve said to the guys all along, whenever you can’t win, and there were times we looked like we couldn’t, don’t lose. A defeat tonight would have been a very difficult end against a team that is also looking for a post-season berth.”

Key Stat

Two Nashville SC players added firsts to their stat lines tonight. Matt Pickens’ penalty save in the 14’ minute was his first of the season while Michael Reed added the first goal to his 2018 resume in the 26’ minute.

Eastern Conference Update

With tonight’s draw, Nashville SC, Ottawa Fury FC and North Carolina FC are now tied with 44 points in the USL Eastern Conference standings. However, Nashville sits below both teams in the ninth spot because of overall wins. With three games remaining in the regular season, a playoff spot is still well within reach for Nashville.

Up Next

Nashville SC hits the road for its final away game on Saturday, Oct. 6 before capping off the regular season with back-to-back home games. Saturday’s kickoff against the Richmond Kickers is at 6:00 p.m. CT at City Stadium.

2018 Westwood football team [Photo by Dana Giltner – DanasDigital.com]

Eight grader Konnor Heaton had 2 first quarter touchdowns and a 2 point conversion to give Westwood a 14 to 0 lead at the end of the 1^st quarter.  Ian Weldon scored on a 40+ yard jet sweep in the 2^nd quarter and Heaton added the 2 point conversion to give the Rockets a 22 to 0 lead at the half.  Heaton added his 3^rd touchdown in 3^rd quarter to give Westwood a 30 to nothing lead late in 3^rd quarter.  Liberty and Westwood traded 2 touchdowns apiece to close out the final 10 minutes of action with the Rockets last score being on a kickoff return by Brayden Dixon.

Keelie Hillis of CHS volleyball

The Coffee County volleyball team closed out the regular season on the road on Thursday in Sparta.  The Lady Raiders traveled to White County for a non-district match.  Playing a best 2 out of 3 match, Coffee County lost in 3 sets.  The Lady Raiders fell by set scores of 25-19, 21-25 and 19-25.

Coffee County was led in kills by Lexi Bryan who had 9.  Keri Munn added 7 kills, Amanda Mukai had 6 and Keelie Hillis scored 5 kills.  Hillis led the team in aces with 3 while Munn and Abigail Layne each finished with 2 aces.  Kiya Ferrell had the team lead in digs with 9 while Hillis finished with 7. Mukai finished with 11 assists while Layne finished with 10.

Coffee County will open up play in the District 8AAA tournament on Thursday as they take on Columbia in the semifinals.  Coach Andrew Taylor will be a guest on Saturday’s Coffee Coaches Show to talk about the season and give us an update on the district tournament which will be held in Shelbyville.

Nate Luttrell of CCMS football

The Coffee County Middle School football traveled to Sparta on Thursday night for a makeup of Tuesday’s game with White County.  The Red Raiders saw their season come to an end in a 40 to 8 defeat to the Warriors.  Coffee County got their lone score when Nate Luttrell scored on a 65 yard fumble return.  Elijah Clemmons added the 2 point conversion.