Niederreiter lifts Predators to sweep of Sharks at Global Series

PRAGUE --Nino Niederreiter scored two goals, Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves, and the Nashville Predators swept the San Jose Sharks in the 2022 NHL Global Series with a 3-2 win before 17,023 at O2 Arena on Saturday.

Niederreiter's second goal gave Nashville a 3-2 lead at 12:13 of the second period. After serving a penalty for boarding, he came out of the box on a 3-on-2 rush. Eeli Tolvanen carried the puck into the left circle, outwaited a defender and sent a pass across. Niederreiter took the pass in the right circle, outwaited a defender and beat Kaapo Kahkonen.
"I mean, obviously, most important thing is that we won, but it's great being able to contribute to a team," Niederreiter said. "Definitely (a) huge goal for our team, and very happy we won the game."

Niederreiter also scored in the Predators' 4-1 win against the Sharks here Friday, giving him three goals in two games to open the regular season. He signed with Nashville as an unrestricted free agent July 21.
"Unreal," said Predators center Ryan Johansen, who played with Niederreiter with Portland of the Western Hockey League from 2009-11. "Super happy for him. I've known him for 14 years. He's a great friend, and I'm really proud of him and happy for his start on a new team. As you can see, he's going to be a big part of our team."
Filip Forsberg also scored for the Predators (2-0-0).
Lankinen made 15 of his saves in the third period and earned his first win for Nashville after signing as an unrestricted free agent July 14.
"I think that showed a lot of character from the whole team," Lankinen said. "It was huge. Seeing the guys battle in front of me like that, putting everything on the line, doing whatever it takes, it gives you a boost as a goalie too. You don't want to let them down. You want to do whatever it takes for them as well. I think this trip has been huge for us. I'm so happy we can go home with two wins from here."
Luke Kunin and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks (0-2-0). Kahkonen made 15 saves.

Sharks coach David Quinn felt his team finished stronger than it did Friday, when he said it was demoralized after Nashville took a 3-1 lead.
"I actually thought that third period was the best period," Quinn said. "I really did. I liked our third period. Huge contrast to what we saw last night. Staying out of the box, I felt we were on top of them."
Kunin echoed his coach.
"I thought our third was really good," Kunin said. "They didn't sit back, and I thought we had a lot of looks. We played hard. We were on the attack. I thought we were a lot more physical, playing more inside tonight and just couldn't find a way to get one."
Kunin, whom the Predators traded to the Sharks on July 8, gave San Jose a 1-0 lead on the power play at 14:24 of the first period. Mario Ferraro fired a shot from the left circle, Oskar Lindblom chipped the rebound in front, and Kunin swiped his own rebound past Lankinen's left pad.
Niederreiter tied the game 1-1 at 4:35 of the second period. Johansen put the puck between the skates of defenseman Jaycob Megna as he cut to the net from the right circle, then sent a backhand pass to the right. Niederreiter banged it in at the side of the net.
"I just did a last-minute panic-button move, and it got through, and Nino went hard to the net and put it in," Johansen said.
Couture responded for San Jose 10 seconds later to make it 2-1 at 4:45, one-timing a pass from Steven Lorentz in the high slot past Lankinen's glove.
Forsberg tied the game 2-2 at 6:29, picking up his own rebound off the right post, wrapping around and banking in the puck off Kahkonen.
Each team travels home Sunday. The Predators' next game is against the Dallas Stars at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday. The Sharks' next game is against the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Friday.
"Obviously, there's so much work to do," Johansen said. "We've got 80 games left. But we should definitely feel pretty good about ourselves and know that when we're doing the right things on the ice we can be a successful team and create a lot of trouble for the opposition."