Juuse Saros stopped all 27 shots he faced, and the Nashville Predators shut out the Vancouver Canucks by a 3-0 final on Friday night at Rogers Arena. The result gives the Preds a victory in their first game of 2025 and snaps a three-game skid to end the previous year.
Steven Stamkos scored Nashville’s first of the night before Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons added empty-netters to close out the evening as the Preds were able to grind out two points.
“Undefeated in 2025,” Stamkos said with a smile. “It was one of those games where maybe we didn't necessarily have our best early… Juice made some big saves that kept us in it, and [the penalty kill] was great like it's been all year. And we talked about building… Good teams find ways to win when it's not necessarily their best. It's a tough League to win in each and every night, so tonight, maybe we can build off that. It was a back-and-forth game of chess at certain times, but we found a way to get one and played pretty solid, and in the third [we] didn't give them too much. And it's a pretty good recipe.”
“I thought [Saros] was obviously really good for us,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought we did the things that make us a good team. We had some success and we had some opportunities offensively. It was just a little bit, maybe sporadic in how we managed the puck and how we managed the game. So we made it harder on ourselves. I liked our third period. I thought there was a commitment to close a game out, and we haven't done that a whole lot. So for me, that was an opportunity to hopefully build off it a little bit.”
Although it wasn’t for lack of trying, neither club was able to find the back of the net through the first half of the contest, but late in the second stanza, Stamkos started a give-and-go with Jonathan Marchessault, and No. 91 for the visitors finished the play with a one-timer past Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen for a 1-0 lead.
“I knew we had some guys trailing late, and I didn't really want to force anything into the middle, so I pulled up, and the play is probably made because [Filip Forsberg] drives the net and takes one guy and then Marchy's behind…and he gave it back,” Stamkos said of the play. “So it was [a] great play, and nice to see that go in, obviously a big goal in the way the game was going.”
From there, the Canucks continued to push - including on a late power play - but Saros and his teammates turned aside each opportunity before Nyquist and Sissons added insurance to finish things off.
“It was a good one to start the year,” Saros said. “Obviously our penalty kill came in huge at the end, we didn’t give them much on those power plays. That was huge. So [it was a] good one to get the two points.”
“It feels like we've been in plenty of these types of games throughout the season, we just haven't closed some of them,” Stamkos said. “So, you have to build off something. And at this point, with where we are in the standings, obviously we need points. And what do you have to lose, really? I mean, let's go out there and not play scared to lose. Let's go out and try to win. And that was a good third period for our group.”
Now, the Preds will turn their attention to Calgary and a matchup with the Flames tomorrow night with a chance to have a successful back-to-back set.
“Just build some momentum off the win,” Stamkos said. “I think we can clean up some things, but anytime you win, it's a bit better feeling about yourself going into the game tomorrow.”
Notes:
Predators forward Ozzy Wiesblatt made his NHL debut on Friday night after being recalled from Milwaukee (AHL) on Thursday. The winger registered two hits and drew a penalty in 9:40 of ice time.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Preds also recalled defenseman Spencer Stastney and forward Fedor Svechkov from Milwaukee. Both players appeared in Friday’s game, with Stastney recording 17:54 of ice time in his first game with Nashville this season.
Tommy Novak (upper body) and Jeremy Lauzon (lower body) both missed Friday’s game with injuries and are both considered day-to-day. The Preds also placed defenseman Adam Wilsby on Injured Reserve with his upper-body injury to join forward Cole Smith on IR. Winger Zach L’Heureux also missed Friday’s contest as he served the first of his three-game suspension.
Per NHL Stats, Steven Stamkos scored his 567th career goal to pass Patrick Marleau (566) for 24th place on the NHL’s all-time list. Mike Bossy ranks 23rd with 573.
The Predators will now jet off to Calgary to face the Flames tomorrow night at the Scotiabank Saddledome before concluding their five-game trip on Tuesday in Winnipeg.
