Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators

Juuse Saros stopped all 29 shots he faced, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild by a 3-0 final on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena.

The result gives the Preds a victory in the second half of the home-and-home set – after falling to Minnesota on Friday night – with a three-goal third period on Saturday and a quality effort to close out 2017 and retake first place in the Central Division with 51 points.

“It was another good game,” Nashville Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was a tight game, but we were much more competitive start to finish. We were much better in the tight area around our net. In front of [Saros], I thought we did a good job. We knew, even going out into the third period, that it was a matter of staying mentally in it, and physically in it and look for a break.”

“It’s a good response and a big win for us,” Saros said. “It shows good character from us.”

It was a goaltending duel through the game’s first 40 minutes with Saros and Alex Stalock making 18 and 19 saves, respectively, but less than three minutes into the third period, Scott Hartnell converted on a wraparound for his fifth tally of the season and a 1-0 Nashville lead.

Then, P.K. Subban’s blast on the power play changed direction and found its way into the cage to give him his 11th point in his last nine outings and his ninth tally of the season to lead all Preds defensemen.

Viktor Arvidsson iced it with an empty-netter and Saros continued to shut the door the rest of the way to post his second shutout of the season.

“He’s a terrific young goalie, and I think you’re starting to see that now,” Laviolette said of Saros.

After being a healthy scratch on Friday in Minnesota, Hartnell returned to make an immediate impact in his return to the lineup, scoring a goal around the net that Laviolette called “his bread and butter.” It was exactly the type of play the Preds hope to receive from the veteran forward.

“He’s trying hard out there,” Laviolette said of Hartnell. “I thought how that play unfolded – his awareness to get that puck up there and bring it around… If you can put him 10 feet in front of the net, that’s where he needs to be and that’s where he’s at his best.”

The Predators were adamant after Friday’s loss they would learn from their mistakes and be better on Saturday. They were, and as the calendar prepares to flip from the year that was the most successful in franchise history, a small but meaningful win such as this became just the latest installment of what the Predators hope will be an even better 2018.

“It’s a lot about our leadership group – Roman Josi, Ryan Johansen, Scott Hartnell – those guys do a good job of keeping the temperature of the room at the right temperature and making sure that guys are focused on the right things,” Subban said. “That’s just the next shift, the next play. Whether we make mistakes or not, we’re such a tight group.”

The Juice Is Loose:

After an 0-3-0 start to the campaign for Juuse Saros, Nashville sent their backup netminder to the American Hockey League on a few occasions to get some more work and fine tune his game.

Mission accomplished.

Saros is now 4-0-2 in his last six starts and has posted shutouts in two of his last three outings to give the Preds a formidable one-two punch in net alongside fellow Finn Pekka Rinne.

Saturday’s effort against Minnesota was just the latest installment in the career of the young netminder to prove he has what it takes to find success at the NHL level and give his club a chance to win every time he gets the call.

“He was awesome,” Subban said of Saros. “Both [Saros and Rinne] have been just stellar for us. I think we felt really bad letting Pekka down yesterday. He kept us in the game making [16] saves in the first period. We wanted to make sure we came out with a better effort today, and I felt we did that.”

“He’s really confident right now,” Laviolette said of Saros. “He’s playing really well. I thought our guys did a much better job around him, but there’s still big saves that needed to be made and he made them. He’s got some confidence. His last six outings have been terrific.”

Notes:

Prior to Saturday’s game, the Predators placed forward Filip Forsberg on Injured Reserve with an upper-body injury, with Head Coach Peter Laviolette adding that there is no timetable yet for Forsberg’s return to the lineup. The Preds also recalled forward Frederick Gaudreau from AHL Milwaukee.

With a goal and assist tonight, P.K. Subban continued his run offensively with his 11th point in his last nine games.

With the Nashville’s 2017 portion of the schedule now complete, they’ll begin the new year out west with a game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Jan. 2, followed by meetings with the Coyotes and Kings next week.

Bella Vinson of CHS basketball

Just like on Thursday, Coffee County got off to a red hot start in the Whitwell Christmas Tournament on Friday afternoon.   Just like on Thursday, the Lady Raiders captured a win which advances them to Saturday’s finals.  What was different was the fact that Coffee County built a 35 point lead in the 4^th quarter to coast to a 62 to 32 win over Fairview Christian.

After swapping baskets with the Lady Falcons of Fairview, Coffee County went on an 18 to 0 run to build a lead that never got below 15 points the rest of the game.  The Lady Raiders completely dominated the paint on both ends of the floor holding Fairview to 16 points through the 3^rd quarter.  Coffee County built the lead to 35 points with 5:55 left in the game on a short jumper by Byanka Woods to invoke the running clock.

Bella Vinson led the Lady Raiders in scoring with 22 points.  Abby Morgan and Journey Arnold each finished with 7 points and Jenna Garretson added 6.  The win moves the Lady Raiders’ record to 12 and 1 on the season.

The win advances the Lady Raiders to Saturday’s finals where they will take on Red Bank at 6 PM at Whitwell High School.

Mikael Granlund notched a hat trick as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Nashville Predators, 4-2, on Friday night at the Xcel Energy Center to start a home-and-home series between the two clubs.

Despite registering 43 shots – their-third highest total of the season – the Predators were only able to beat goaltender Devan Dubnyk twice, as their comeback bid fell short. It’s the fourth loss in five games for the Preds, and their first regulation road loss since they fell on Nov. 16, also at Minnesota.

Nashville’s play in the final 40 minutes of the contest was almost enough to get them a win, but it was their start that was lacking, something the Preds say led to Friday’s result.

“When you enter a game, mentally and physically, you have to be ready for the wars and the battles and we were slow to get out of the hole tonight,” Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “They were first everywhere, so there’s no excuse for it. It’s got to be better. We’re not going to win games if we’re giving away first periods, and it wasn’t good enough.”

The shots came fast and furious off the sticks of the Wild to open Friday’s contest. Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne turned aside 16 shots in the first 20 minutes, but two goals from Mikael Granlund gave the Wild leads of 1-0 and 2-1.

P.K. Subban fluttered a puck past Devan Dubnyk at 10:16 of the first to salvage Nashville’s slow start, but a Matt Dumba strike in the second stanza gave the Wild a 3-1 advantage after two periods.

Nashville continued to push, and a power-play opportunity early in the third saw Kyle Turris deposit his eighth goal of the season to bring Nashville back to within one, but in the dying minutes and with the Preds’ net empty, Granlund deposited his third of the evening to seal the win for the home club.

“We’re disappointed in ourselves tonight because we worked our butts off the last 40 minutes and did a lot of good things, but it was kind of a waste because we weren’t ready at the start of the game,” Nashville center Ryan Johansen said. “We’ll learn from it tonight. The great thing is we play the same guys tomorrow, so we’ll be ready to go, and we’re excited to get back out there on the ice. We wish it was right now.”

As Johansen stated, the Predators won’t have to wait long for a shot at redemption – less than 24 hours from now at Bridgestone Arena – and they figure a quick start will go a long way in helping them to be successful in collecting two points for a chance to get back atop the Central Division.

“We were not playing to our capability at all in the first period, and its frustrating because we were right there,” forward Colton Sissons said. “I think if we take that third period mindset and that effort and desire and passion right from the get-go, we’ll be looking good tomorrow night.”

Notes:

Forward Filip Forsberg left Friday’s game in the third period with what Laviolette called “a problem” and did not return, with no further update available on Forsberg’s status following the contest.

Miikka Salomaki played his first game since Dec. 21, while Scott Hartnell exited the lineup as a healthy scratch.

Craig Smith fired 11 shots on goal during the contest, a career high for the Nashville winger.

Part two of the Predators and Wild’s home-and-home series comes Saturday night in Nashville at 7 p.m.