Smith Scores Twice as Preds Earn 4-1 Win Over Rangers

The Nashville Predators earned their first road win of the season with a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday at Madison Square Garden.

Seven different Preds players found the scoresheet in Thursday’s win, led by two points apiece from Cole Smith (2g), Tyson Barrie (2a) and Filip Forsberg (1g-1a). Juuse Saros made 24 saves on 25 shots, stopping every shot he faced at even strength.

Smith scored twice, less than five minutes apart, to give the Predators a two-goal advantage in the first period. Just over halfway through the frame, Michael McCarron redirected a Barrie slapshot and Smith stuffed it into the net to give Nashville a 1-0 lead at 11:24. Minutes later, fresh out of the penalty box after an interference call, Smith took the puck to the net on a breakaway and fired it past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin to extend the Predators lead to 2-0 at 16:22.

With Adam Fox in the box for hooking, Ryan O’Reilly won a face-off early in the second period and sank a power-play goal assisted by Luke Evangelista and Forsberg to put the Preds up, 3-0.

On Nashville’s next power-play opportunity, Forsberg fired a slapshot from short range and went top-corner on Shesterkin to give the Predators a 4-0 lead. That ended the night for Shesterkin, who was replaced by Jonathan Quick between the pipes with 6:09 remaining in the second period.

The Rangers got one back in the final minute of the middle frame to cut Nashville’s lead to 4-1. With both O’Reilly and Juuso Pärssinen in the box for tripping infractions, Fox beat Juuse Saros at 5-on-3 to put New York on the board at 19:18 of the second.

New York’s Vincent Trocheck thought he had scored at 11:58 of the third period, but the goal was overturned when it was determined that the puck did not cross the goal line, leaving the final score at 4-1.

PREDS STANDOUTS

Cole World: Thursday marked the first multi-goal game of Smith’s NHL career and only his second multi-point game; he last recorded two points (2a) against St. Louis on Oct. 27, 2022. McCarron, skating in his season debut, added an assist on Smith’s first goal of the night.

Power Up: O’Reilly’s second-period tally was his second goal of the season and gave the Predators a power-play goal in back-to-back games. Evangelista’s helper was his first point of the season, and Forsberg extended his team lead in assists to four.

Big Filly Style: Forsberg’s power-play tally was his first goal of the season on his 24th shot. He now leads the Predators with five points (1g-4a) through five games.

THEY SAID IT

Roman Josi on the win:

“That's a really good team, and I felt like we were pressing the whole game. In the first and second, we certainly played really well. We got in some penalty trouble, but I felt it was … a complete team game. Obviously, scoring two on the power play is huge, but I thought 5-on-5 we played great. They’re such a fast and skilled team, but we played really well.”

Smith on giving Nashville the early lead:

“It was really important, especially in a building like this. The crowd can get buzzing in here, and they thrive off of it. So we want to establish, get in on the inside, and I think on that goal we did. It was a good start for us… Besides the goal part, just to be able to contribute for the guys here and finally bury one on the breakaway here felt good. But I think any time you can put one in the back of the net and help the guys out and get a good start like that, it’s good.”

Head Coach Andrew Brunette on Nashville’s effort in the win:

“It was nice to get rewarded. We've created a lot of opportunities here in the first four games and haven't really reaped the benefits of it, and tonight we got a couple greasy ones. It was nice to see [Forsberg] get on the board with the shot on the power play. So we did a lot of good things. I really liked our game away from the puck.”

UP NEXT

The Predators return home to host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.