NASHVILLE
Zdeno Chara Jersey , Tenn. (AP) — After a turbulent trip to Nashville, the Dallas Stars were settled down by their goaltender once they made a career-high 49 saves to lead the Stars to a 2-0
victory over the slumping Predators on Thursday night.“It didn’t seem like we
gave up 49 shots. It didn’t seem like we were under siege,” Dallas coach Jim
Montgomery said. “Usually when you give up 49 shots, you are usually a little
bit under siege on the bench. I think we gave up a lot of perimeter stuff. For
the most part, we allowed him to see the puck and he did a good job of taking
whistles when needed.”Tyler Pitlick and Mattias Janmark scored for Dallas, which
has won two of three.Pekka Rinne stopped 28 shots for the Predators, who have
lost five straight.“We’re working to create. It’s not from a lack of effort or
opportunity,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “When you put that many pucks at the
net, you’re looking to do the right things.”Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm
led all Nashville skaters with eight shots on goal.Following the three-day
Christmas break, the Stars held a morning skate Thursday in Dallas before flying
to Nashville for the game. The team’s charter had a bumpy ride into Music
City.“It was tough
Xavier Ouellet Jersey Womens ,” Pitlick said. “We skated in Dallas and then got on the plane and flew through a thunderstorm and barely landed and got
here. It was a little bit of a challenge for our team, but it was good for our
team to battle through that and get a win.”Khudobin posted his first shutout
this season and the seventh of his career. He was tested often, with his best
save coming with six minutes remaining when he denied Ryan Johansen’s slap shot
from the right side with Nashville on a power play. Khudobin also set a
franchise record for saves in a shutout.“It’s just a number,” Khudobin said.
“I’m more happy with the win.”Pitlick scored the first goal at 7:20 of the
opening period.After a give-and-go with linemate Radek Faksa, Pitlick used
Predators defenseman Matt Irwin as a screen and beat Rinne with a wrist shot
from the left circle to the far side.Janmark’s unassisted goal at 11:09 of the
second doubled the Dallas lead.Irwin could not control a bouncing puck at the
Stars blue line and Janmark carried it the other way. From the top of the left
faceoff circle, he pulled up and fired a slap shot on net. The puck deflected
off Rinne’s glove and trickled across the goal line.The banged-up Predators got
two players back in the lineup. Star defenseman P.K. Subban missed 19 games with
an upper-body injury and forward Viktor Arvidsson missed 21 games with a broken
thumb. Both were activated off injured reserve.“Even though I’ve been out for a
while, there’s no excuses,” Subban said. “I’m on for two goals, and in my career
I’ve never liked to be on the ice for even-strength goals so I’m going to have
to look at the tape and get a little better for next game.”NOTES: Dallas is
15-1-1 when leading after two periods. … Pitlick scored in consecutive games for
the first time this season. … Nashville RW Ryan Hartman played his 200th NHL
game. … The Predators have not scored on the power play in nine of their last 10
games. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Filip Forsberg dropped his broken stick and raced
to the bench for another just as the puck slid around the boards near his
skates. He grabbed a new stick from the Predators‘ equipment manager
TJ Brodie Jersey , fought off Jets defenseman Ben Chiarot and kept the puck onside.Then he skated toward Connor Hellebuyck, holding off Chiarot as he
scored, then slid into the net .The man also known as Scoresberg or Filthy Fil
then helped send the Western Conference semifinal back to Nashville for a
deciding Game 7 with another highlight-reel worthy goal. Viktor Arvidsson found
Forsberg and the Swede slipped the puck through his legs, a movement that
prompted Hellebuyck to slide away from the post to cover the empty net to his
left.Forsberg immediately flipped the puck through the sliver of an opening,
causing a GIF-frenzy on social media.With the postseason that Forsberg is
having, Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne can’t settle on the best goal he’s seen
from his teammate.”I feel like these two series that already at least three or
four really unbelievable goals, and it’s hard to pick,” Rinne said. ”I’m just a
fan when I watch him play.”Forsberg led the Predators with 64 points helping
Nashville win the franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy during the regular
season. He now is the franchise’s all-time leading scorer in the playoffs with
15 points this postseason, bringing Nashville back for Game 7 on Thursday night
against Winnipeg as the Predators seek a second straight berth in the West
final. The winner of this series will host the Vegas Golden Knights for the
first two games.With Pittsburgh and Boston eliminated, Forsberg now is tied with
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin for the most points scored this postseason with
15
Womens Travis Hamonic Jersey , and the Predators forward has a plus-4 rating that is a point ahead of Ovechkin with both having played 12 games
each.Forsberg looks just comfortable passing the puck through his own legs as
those of a defenseman he’s undressing on his way to another goal or even just
juggling the puck with his stick to give teammates time to get back onside. The
23-year-old forward from Ostervala, Sweden, said his stick skills are the result
of lots of hard work.”Natural is definitely not the word for it, but it just
takes a lot of practice, takes a lot of you doing,” Forsberg said. ”Just try to
maybe do it in practice and stuff like that and once in a while you get time and
space for it in a game, you try to pull it off.”Some scorers tap into their
natural talent, blessed with quick hands and eyes along with soft hands. Others
spend hours and hours developing muscle memory. Forsberg counts himself among
those who made themselves into scorers. He started as a young child using a
shooting ramp his father built for Forsberg and his brother and lots of road
hockey.”I think that’s where it all started,” Forsberg said.His skills grew as
he led his junior team with 40 points in 2010-11 and helped Sweden win silver at
the 2011 World Under-18 Championship. Forsberg was captain when Sweden won both
the World Under-18 and World Junior championships in 2012.The Washington
Capitals made Forsberg their first-round pick at No. 11 overall in 2012. He
never played a game for the Capitals before being traded April 3,
2013
Florida Panthers Hoodies Womens , to Nashville in exchange for Martin Erat and Martin Latta.The Predators wasted no time getting Forsberg on the ice, playing
him five games that same season. Forsberg spent only 13 games with Nashville in
2013-14, and he has been a fixture in the lineup since 2014-15. They signed him
to a six-year, $36 million contract in June 2016.Center Nick Bonino won two
Stanley Cups with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, and he’s gotten
to watch Forsberg up close this season after signing as a free agent.”He’s very
skilled,” Bonino said. ”He’s one of the most skilled sticks I’ve ever seen.
Practice is fun with him. Games are fun with him.”Forward Colton Sissons sees
Forsberg as having a gift that helps him see how best to move the puck instantly
to execute in high-pressure moments. Sissons also is pretty sure of what might
happen if he tried to mimic some of Forsberg’s scoring moves.”I might break my
ankle or something bad might happen,” Sissons said. ”I’d probably just jam it in
the near post, but I’ll leave the through the legs stuff to Fil and some of
those guys.”—
