Tolvanen Gains Experience in First Weekend with Preds; Plus, Scoresberg

Eeli Tolvanen was nervous for his NHL debut on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena. Can you blame him?
Just nine months removed from being selected 30th overall by the Predators in the 2017 NHL Draft, and two days after inking a three-year, entry-level deal, the 18-year-old winger was put right into the action against the Buffalo Sabres, starting the game on Nashville's top line.
Tolvanen skated 13:34 in his debut, while becoming acclimated to the Predators' systems and tendencies. With another contest the very next night, Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette elected to put the rookie right back into the lineup, and a marked improvement was evident in Tolvanen's game.

"There's more to it than just scoring a goal, which he'll do in his career, but to me, he looked a lot more comfortable than he was [on Saturday]," Laviolette said of Tolvanen after Sunday's win in Tampa Bay. "He looked like he was skating better, more comfortable and more confident with the puck. The offense will come… Every game he plays, I think he's going to get more and more comfortable with the speed of the game, the competition... he'll be fine."
While he won't turn 19 for another few weeks, Tolvanen has about as much experience as a hockey player of his age can possess, especially after participating in a full season with Jokerit of the KHL, setting just about every rookie record in the process.
Add that to representing Finland at not only the World Junior Championship but also the 2018 Winter Olympics, and Laviolette knows the phenom can handle the transition, simply because of what he's already shown over the past seven months.

"To me, the KHL is a great league and there's players there that can be 18 years old, 19 years old, or they could be 25, 30, 35, 38 years old," Laviolette said. "He's playing against men, and he figured it out, so I feel the same way [about transitioning to the NHL]. Like I said, [Saturday] night was a lot. You come into our building, it can be an intimidating place for visitors, but it can also be an intimidating place for a young kid."
If Tolvanen is going to help the Predators advance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which start next week, Laviolette believes firsthand experience during the regular season is the ideal avenue to prepare him.
There's no better way to dissipate the nerves, either.
"We have to get him going," Laviolette said. "We don't have a lot of time left from when he got here. He has to take down minutes and he has got to get involved in situational play, and for me, that's the best way to have him get up to speed."

Scoresberg:
You know you want to watch it again.
Sure, he's pulled off jaw-dropping plays before,
including a lacrosse-style attempt last week
that almost worked to perfection, but on Sunday evening in Tampa Bay, Filip Forsberg showed exactly why and how he can be a dominant player in the League when he's at the top of his game.
Forsberg's second goal of the contest against the Lightning was a classic illustration of his abilities to go 1-on-1 with a defender and turn them inside out before beating the goaltender.
"I tried to just use my speed," Forsberg said. "I made a nice move on the D and kind of ran out of room and had to put it short side."
Still pretty humble, right?
Forsberg's linemate, Ryan Johansen, had just about as perfect of a view as anyone in the building, and even he marveled at what was happening just a few feet away.
"Oh, my goodness, unbelievable," Johansen said of the goal. "I couldn't do that if I tried a thousand times. I was in shock on the ice. I don't know if anybody caught my face, but I was just like, 'Wow.' When he's going, he's a big-time threat out there and it's a great time for him to start ramping his game up."

Forsberg has six points (2g-4a) in his last two games and has hit the 60-point mark for the third time in his last four campaigns. After skating in all 82 games for three consecutive seasons, Forsberg has only participated in 64 outings in 2017-18 due to injury and suspension.
But no matter, as Forsberg is playing at the best point-per-game pace of his career (0.95) by a wide margin, and even with the consistency, he appears to be heating up at the right time.

So, cue up those wireless devices - there could be plenty more highlights of No. 9's to stream in the coming weeks.
"When I watch him play, you watch that [second] goal, he kicked it into another gear and that's when he's on his game," Laviolette said of Forsberg. "When he's playing fast, when he's dangerous with his shot, when he plays like a power forward, he becomes really hard to defend… It looks to me he's getting back and really trying to find that game speed before the playoffs."