Turris Strikes in Overtime, Preds Come Back to Defeat Devils

KT in OT.
Filip Forsberg tied the game on the power play, and Kyle Turris tallied the winner in overtime, as the Nashville Predators defeated the New Jersey Devils by a 4-3 final on Thursday night at the Prudential Center.
The comeback marks Nashville's eighth win on the season, as they hit the 10-game mark. Plus, the Predators are 5-0-0 on the road for the first time in franchise history.

The Preds never had the lead until the final moment of the contest as they gritted out a road win against a speedy, skilled opponent to get back in the win column.
"Our guys showed up and played hard, and I liked the fact we kept fighting back in that game," Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "Specialty teams have been working to get on track and they really came through in the third period and won us a hockey game. And I thought [goaltender Juuse Saros] was terrific."
"That was a big two points and a big comeback," Saros said. "It showed some character to come back like that."
The Predators started slowly, but fought their way back into the game in the latter half of the opening period. Damon Severson tallied less than three minutes into the contest with a wrister from the blue line to give the Devils a 1-0 advantage.

Late in the first, Yannick Weber caught a pass from Kevin Fiala at the blue line and threw a shot toward the New Jersey net. The wrister evaded Devils' netminder Keith Kinkaid and evened the score at 14:40. The contest seemed destined to exit the first frame at 1-1, but a late power play and deflection from Nico Hischier gave New Jersey the lead again with seconds remaining.

The visitors controlled play for stretches in the second period on the way to Viktor Arvidsson firing home his fourth goal in the last three games. Turris turned at the half wall and sent a pass into the high slot for Arvidsson, who picked a spot up high to even the score, 2-2.
The game remained tied for a total of 40 seconds, when Hischier got behind the defense and tapped in his second of the game. The Devils exited the second how they started it - up a goal.

Saros stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third, and when they needed it most, the Predators' power play broke through with 6:20 remaining in regulation. Ryan Johansen spit the Devils' penalty kill box to find Forsberg for the game's third tying goal.
Then in overtime, it was Turris who sniped a shot past Kinkaid to send the visitors home happy.

"I love it," Turris said of overtime play. "3-on-3 is a lot of fun. You can be creative and use speed, and I really enjoy it."
The Predators put an emphasis on having a better start to the season after the past couple of years didn't produce the desired results. Now, with 16 points through the first 10 outings? That's more like it.
"We really tried to emphasize it this year, to have a good start and then go from there," Saros said. "It's still a young season with a lot of games left to be played, but we'll try to keep it going."
"We're 8-2-0 and pretty happy with that," Turris said. "There's always going to be things you can improve on as a team, and individually, and everybody's working on that, but we're pretty happy."

Notes:
Previously, the Predators' best road record to start a season was 3-0-0.
Thursday's contest was game No. 400 of defenseman Mattias Ekholm's career and the 200th for Colton Sissons in the NHL.
Winger Rocco Grimaldi played his first game with the Predators, logging two shots and 13:14 time on ice.
Defenseman Dan Hamhuis was placed on Injured Reserve on Thursday morning.
Goaltender Juuse Saros made his third consecutive start with Pekka Rinne still on Injured Reserve. There has been no formal update on Rinne's injury, but he is eligible to return from IR on Saturday.
The Predators host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena (at 2 p.m) and then the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (at 7 p.m.).