The Nashville Predators have a tall task ahead of them on Tuesday when they attempt to slow down Jason Robertson and the visiting Dallas Stars.
Robertson followed up his first career hat trick in Dallas’ 4-3 overtime victory against Winnipeg on Friday with another three-goal performance two days later in a 6-3 triumph versus Minnesota. The 22-year-old became the first player to record a hat trick in consecutive games since Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin accomplished the feat on Jan. 16-18, 2020.
“My linemates worked really hard today and got those opportunities, and when you start feeling good, you start to shoot the puck more with more confidence,” Robertson said.
Robertson has scored eight of his team-leading 29 goals in the last five games overall. He has collected three goals and an assist in three meetings this season with Nashville, including two power-play tallies in the Stars’ 4-3 win on Feb. 9.
Joe Pavelski set up a goal in his fifth consecutive contest on Sunday. The 37-year-old leads Dallas in both assists (37) and points (59).
The Stars have won four in a row during their six-game point streak (5-0-1) to move into a tie with Minnesota, just four points shy of the second-place St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.
“That’s a good sign of where we are right now,” Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. “That’s a good bunch, they’ve come together really well. We’re happy with where we are, but we haven’t done anything yet. Until we see that X beside our name in the playoffs, we’ve got to keep pushing.”
The Predators, who reside one point behind the Stars, snapped a two-game skid with an 8-0 shellacking of San Jose on Saturday.
The fourth line of Michael McCarron (two goals, two assists), Matt Luff (two goals, one assist) and Philip Tomasino (three assists) combined for 10 points in the lopsided result.
“It was a great bounce back for our team,” Luff said. “On our off day we kind of looked in the mirror and just realized (the effort in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Seattle) is not a way to make the playoffs, and we want to be a playoff team. I think you look at that 60 minutes (on Saturday) and that’s a pretty solid game we had.”
Nashville opens a pivotal three-game homestand versus Dallas before hosting Anaheim and St. Louis.
“We have a big homestand coming up, so it’s going to be a good test for our group because those are huge points,” Tomasino said. “Dallas is probably going to be the biggest game of the year so far because we’re neck-and-neck with them in the standings. … We’ll be ready for Tuesday against Dallas.”
Captain Roman Josi set up four goals on Saturday to boost his club-best totals in assists (45) and points (59).
Matt Duchene scored twice on Saturday to pull even with Filip Forsberg for the team lead in goals with 27. Duchene has tallied twice against Dallas this season.
Juuse Saros has turned aside 75 of 82 shots to post a 2-1-0 record versus the Stars this season. He sports an 11-4-1 record with three shutouts, a 2.25 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 16 career starts versus the club.
–Field Level Media
