Johansen's First Hat Trick Leads Preds Past Wild

Ryan Johansen recorded his first career hat trick as the Nashville Predators defeated the Minnesota Wild by a 6-2 final on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena. The victory gets the Preds to the 40-win plateau and gives them 84 points to remain in the Western Conference's first Wild Card spot.
Roman Josi, Philip Tomasino and Matt Duchene also found the back of the net on Tuesday, and goaltender Juuse Saros earned No. 1 Star accolades after stopping 47 Minnesota shots in the win. Josi also added a pair of assists to reach 84 points on the season, just one away from tying the single-season franchise record.
Nashville also scored three power-play goals in the opening 20 minutes to tie a franchise record, a feat that had been accomplished five times previously in team history.

Nashville's first power-play goal of the night came just over five minutes into the contest when Josi sniped a shot from the left wing past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury for a 1-0 lead. After Mats Zuccarello tied things up for Minnesota, the Preds went back on the man advantage, and Johansen finished off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play to put the home team back up by one.

Then, Josi and Johansen teamed up on the power play once more as the captain's slap pass was skillfully redirected top shelf by the centerman to give the Preds a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Tomasino put his club up by three six minutes into the second stanza - and just after another man advantage had expired - when he deposited a feed from Josi in the slot. The Wild tallied on a 5-on-3 later in the period as Kirill Kaprizov brought Minnesota back to within two.
But that was as close as the visitors got, and after Duchene picked the top corner on Fleury with a perfect shot, Johansen completed the hat trick with an empty-netter with just six seconds to play.
The Predators won their eighth straight game against the Wild at Bridgestone Arena, a mark that's tied for their second-longest home win streak against one opponent.

Tuesday Storyline:

The stakes were high on Tuesday - and the Preds showed up.
Every game is important at this time of the year, but the matchup against Minnesota carried a bit of extra hype, and for good reason. The two division rivals continue to jockey for postseason positioning, and with three fights in the opening 11 minutes of the game - and one more in the middle period - Nashville was more than ready for the physical battle.
They won the game on the scoresheet too, and thanks to one of their better efforts in recent memory, the Predators kept their Wild Card spot and got back into the win column as the final four weeks of the regular season continue.

"We knew what the stakes were for this game, and everyone on the team contributed," Johansen said. "It was a war. It was a playoff-like game, and they've got a heck of a team over there. It was a big win for our group, so we'll just take a step forward and keep it going."
"We know what type of group we have as far as our competitive nature, our care level and the identity that we want to be able to play with goes," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "You've heard me talk throughout the year about playing our best hockey when the stakes are high and why having an identity, when sometimes there's bumps in the road, and being able to get back to the identity that we all believe in [is important]. The players themselves have created [that identity] with the commitment level that they play with, and I thought we were able to get back to that game tonight."
Everyone on the Nashville roster found a way to contribute in a game that saw the Preds dish out 32 hits and block 22 shots, while four players - Johansen, Josi, Tomasino and Filip Forsberg - had three-point efforts.
Most notably, Johansen's hat trick was the first of his career. For a player who is usually looking to set up his teammates instead of shooting the puck himself, the feat was certainly something to celebrate.

"Joey is the best teammate, greatest guy, and the whole bench was so excited for him," Josi said. "He's such an amazing team player. He brings it every night for us, and he cares about his teammates, which is why I think he saw how happy everyone was for him."
"I'm really happy for Joey," Hynes said. "He's done so many good things this year. I think he's obviously a big part of why we're having success this year and in the playoff race… We had a tough loss in Buffalo [last Friday], and I just think his attitude in and around the rink and the type of teammate he is and his presence and things like that - I thought he led in the right way prior to the game. But I also thought he stepped up in the game today and made a big difference for us."
Saros did as well by stopping 47 of 49 Minnesota shots he faced, but that's just another night for Nashville's netminder - and one more player who simply rose to the occasion.
"Juice played great, and that's the way we need him to play," Hynes said. "Juice was at the level that we needed him to be at. He's an elite goalie in the League, and he was elite tonight and it's nice to see. He's another guy that cares a lot, and he wants to play the right way. And when he plays at that level, it gives us a chance to win every night."

The Predators had a sense Tuesday would be a special night. They delivered, and now, with just 13 games to go in the regular season, they'd love nothing more than to replicate that effort in at least a few more outings.
The journey continues Thursday night in Canada's capital, and Tuesday's top goal-scorer knows exactly what his team needs to do.
"You can enjoy it here for a little bit, and then we've really got to get our focus back to try and execute that game that we just played as best as we can in Ottawa, if not better," Johansen said. "That's a mindset thing more from our group, and if we want to take another step against Ottawa, it's just continuing to play like that from here on out."

Highlight of the Night:

They Said It:

Matt Duchene on Ryan Johansen's hat trick:
"After the first period, I was like, "Hey, one more for 20, one more for the hattie." I wanted him to get it real bad - I think we all did - and nice to see him get at the end obviously. The puck just kind of found him at the end. It just was bouncing everywhere, and we're all like, "aww." Finally got on his stick and he made no mistake. It might have gone in on a goalie if he was in there actually, he went so hard top cheese. It's great to see for a guy that's always looking pass-first. It's great to see him score a few."

Notes:

Roman Josi became the third defenseman in the past 30 years to record 11 or more three-point outings in a single season. The others: Paul Coffey (12 in 1993-94) and Phil Housley (12 in 1992-93).
Josi now has 11 points (4g-7a) in three games against the Wild this season.
Defensemen Dante Fabbro and Mark Borowiecki both returned from injury and dressed for Nashville in Tuesday's win. Forward Matt Luff also entered the lineup, while forward Eeli Tolvanen, as well blueliners Matt Benning, Matt Tennyson, Ben Harpur and Jeremy Davies were scratched.
Nashville will now travel to Ottawa to face the Senators on Thursday night before returning home to host Florida on Saturday evening at Bridgestone Arena to start a back-to-back weekend set.