|
 After he was denied by goaltender Mike Condon's quick glove in the
second and then missed an open net in overtime when the puck hit his
stick blade on the follow-through of a shot, Smith scored the lone
goal in the shootout to give the Predators a 2-1 win over the
Montreal Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre.
"It was good to get a chance at it quick again and kind of erase
it," he said of his shootout opportunity. "(The overtime chance is)
kind of funny now but it wasn't funny at the time."
"I've done that a ton of times in practice," Smith added of the
missed overtime opportunity. "It was just one of those things where
it happens fast and you've got just got to control it a little
better."
With the win, the Predators (28-21-11) leapfrogged the Colorado
Avalanche for the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Nashville holds two games in hand.
Condon stopped 29 shots for Montreal (28-27-5).
"He played very well and that was a big reason why we were still in
that game," Max Pacioretty said. "He shut the door on a lot of great
opportunities for them."
Left winger Viktor Arvidsson scored in regulation for Nashville.
Right winger Brendan Gallagher connected for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens had a chance to break the ice early in the first when
defenseman Nathan Beaulieu broke in on a two-on-one rush with Paul
Byron and tossed a backhander through Rinne's pads that sailed
through the crease and out.
Soon after, Arvidsson opened the scoring with his sixth of the
season. After a brief back-and-forth with center Colin Wilson along
the left side, James Neal fired a shot from the top of the left
circle. Condon made the save but Arvidsson, battling with defenseman
Mark Barberio in front, pounced on the rebound, poking it through
the goalie's pads at 3:16.
The Predators held the edge on the shot clock for the better part of
the remainder of the period until the Canadiens woke up with a
flurry late in the frame.
[to top of second column] |
That ultimately led to Gallagher's tying goal at 18:46. Defenseman
Andrei Markov wired a shot from just outside the left circle and
Gallagher, parked in front, was there to pounce on the rebound for
his 16th of the season.
"It wasn't good enough, I don't think," Gallagher said of the
Canadiens' start. "They did a lot of things that we hadn't seen. We
had to make a couple of adjustments and we did.
"Early on, I think we were just throwing pucks right to him and then
later we were able to skate through the neutral zone with it, do the
dirty work and create some turnovers."
The win marked the eighth consecutive road game with at least a
point for the Predators, setting a franchise record.
"I think it's just the team play," said goaltender Pekka Rinne of
the team's recent road success. "We've been better defensively,
playing a bit more of a cleaner game, and not turning the puck over.
Just a solid team defense and our penalty kill has been good for us,
and that's a big thing, of course."
Rinne made 28 saves for the win.
NOTES: Canadiens RW Dale Weise was a late scratch due to the flu. LW
Lucas Lessio, who was supposed to be a healthy scratch, drew back in
as a replacement. ... Montreal D Mark Barberio returned to the
lineup after three games as a scratch, replacing D Tom Gilbert, who
missed the game after sustaining a lower-body injury Friday against
the Philadelphia Flyers. ... Nashville scratched C Cody Bass and D
Barret Jackman. ... The game was the first of a three-game road trip
for the Predators, who play the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday.
... The Canadiens face the Capitals in Washington on Wednesday.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
