The Montreal Canadiens will proceed their push for a playoff spot after they go to the struggling Nashville Predators on Sunday.
The Canadiens (37-30-9, 83 factors) arrive in Music Metropolis using a four-game successful streak that was prolonged with a 3-2 residence victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.
Montreal trailed 1-0 going into the third interval however tallied three consecutive objectives to earn the victory.
“What we mentioned was keep affected person,” ahead Brendan Gallagher mentioned. “We knew we had it on this room. We are able to rating objectives. Simply keep affected person, stick to our sport plan.”
The Canadiens are holding the Japanese Convention’s second wild-card spot, and boasting a four-point lead on the New York Rangers within the race. Each golf equipment have six video games remaining within the common season.
The successful streak has seen captain Nick Suzuki take his sport to a different stage. Suzuki netted the game-winning objective and an help, growing each his goal-scoring and point-scoring streaks to 4 video games wherein he has netted 5 objectives and 9 factors.
“He is nonetheless younger and he is taking part in with two younger gamers,” coach Martin St. Louis mentioned, referring to Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. “As all of them mature collectively, grow old, it is solely going to get higher. What’s his ceiling? I do not know, however I do not wish to take into consideration his ceiling as a result of I need him to dictate what that ceiling goes to be.”
The Predators return residence after struggling a 5-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, which runs their newest shedding skid to 5 video games.
Nashville (27-41-8, 62 factors) has lengthy been eradicated from playoff competition and had little or no pushback to complete the season on a robust observe and even play spoiler.
The Predators had an all-too-familiar efficiency on this disappointing marketing campaign after they confronted off in opposition to the Dallas Stars.
“They seem to be a actually good offensive rush staff, and we did not give them a lot within the first (interval),” ahead Steven Stamkos mentioned of the most recent loss. “After which form of midway via the sport you may inform we had been beginning to flip some pucks over and feed their rush. It simply felt prefer it was a matter of time earlier than it form of burned us, and it did.”
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette was not at Saturday’s observe on account of a private matter, and there was no phrase whether or not he can be again with the staff in time for the sport.
The sport might mark the NHL debut of 2023 first-round draft decide Matthew Wooden, the 6-foot-5 ahead who signed an entry-level contract previously week after ending his season on the College of Minnesota.
“I’ve grown in plenty of methods,” mentioned Wooden, who was selected fifteenth general. “I’ve gotten lots stronger skating-wise, gotten quicker and extra cellular. … One in every of my strengths is that I really like studying, and I am all the time going to attempt to proceed to be taught. It is a big studying alternative for me.”
-Area Stage Media