Focused and confident, the Nashville Predators are primed to extend their longest winning stretch of the season.
Meanwhile, the only drama surrounding the Montreal Canadiens might be what their roster will look like after this week’s trade deadline.
The surging Predators eye a ninth consecutive victory when they host the Canadiens on Tuesday night.
No NHL team is currently playing better hockey than Nashville, which has outscored opponents 37-13 and has scored at least four goals during each of the eight games during a winning streak that has matched the second longest in franchise history. Light-scoring forward Cody Glass posted his first career hat trick and the Predators scored three times in the third period to break open a one-goal game in Saturday’s 5-1 home win over the Colorado Avalanche.
“It’s been a good stretch and we’ve got to keep things rolling,” said Nashville forward Ryan O’Reilly, who has two goals and two assists in the past four games.
“Everyone’s just connected and working for each other and when things go wrong, you just see everyone’s got each other’s back. … It’s so much fun to be part of.”
Owners of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the Predators are two victories shy of equaling the club-record 10-game winning streak set during 2017-18 season.
Nashville has allowed a single goal in each of the past three games, all started by Juuse Saros, who has a 1.34 goals-against average and .954 save percentage during his current six-game winning streak. Saros stopped 36 shots during Nashville’s 2-1 win at Montreal on Dec. 10.
Colton Sissons scored both Predators goals in that contest. He has posted three assists in his past two games overall. Teammate Roman Josi, who assisted on both goals at Montreal back in December, has totaled four goals and five assists in Nashville’s past five games.
Meanwhile, the Canadiens are likely to miss the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
Though they’ve earned four points in the past three games, the Canadiens are amid a 4-10-3 stretch overall and an 0-3-2 road rut. Montreal is coming off back-to-back 4-3 shootout losses — at Florida and Tampa Bay.
On Saturday against the Lightning, Montreal led 2-0 after one period and was up 3-2 in the third, but failed to prevail.
“Our overall game is pretty good right now, and we’ve just got to do a better job of finishing it off in the third,” said Canadiens rising star Cole Caufield, who has just two of his 19 goals in the past 13 games.
While Caufield is a major part of Montreal’s present and future, other veterans like Joel Armia, Jake Evans and goaltender Jake Allen could each provide a decent return if dealt by Friday’s trade deadline.
Armia has two goals and two assists in the past four games. Evans scored in the December loss to Nashville and also has four points (one goal, three assists) in the past four contests.
Allen, who has allowed 15 goals while losing his past three starts, Cayden Primeau (3.04 GAA) and Sam Montembeault (3.15 GAA) have each earned starts over the past four games for Montreal. Allen made 30 saves against the Predators in December.
Nashville backup Kevin Lankinen has yielded five goals in winning his past two starts — both on the road.
–Field Level Media
