The Detroit Red Wings overcame an early injury to goaltender John Gibson to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Monday at Bridgestone Arena. Albert Johansson scored the game-winning short-handed goal in the second period, while Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Raymond each recorded a goal and an assist. The win improves Detroit's record to 35-20-6, while Nashville falls to 27-25-8.
The game began with Detroit taking a 1-0 lead at 4:51 of the first period when Emmitt Finnie scored on a rebound of a shot from Mason Appleton, deflected by Marco Kasper. Nashville tied it 1-1 at 17:02 on a power-play goal by Filip Forsberg, who one-timed a feed from Luke Evangelista.
In the second period, Jonathan Marchessault gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 7:10, finishing a chance in the crease after a pass from Ryan O'Reilly following a turnover by Detroit's Simon Edvinsson. Raymond evened the score at 2-2 at 9:45 with a wrist shot on a cross-ice feed from DeBrincat during a rush.
Detroit then seized the lead at 16:36 when Johansson scored short-handed on a 2-on-1 with Kasper after Moritz Seider was penalized for slashing. It was Johansson's second goal of the season and first since January 12. DeBrincat sealed the 4-2 win with an empty-net goal at 19:33 of the third.
Gibson left after the first period with an upper-body injury, a stinger in the shoulder area from a shot, allowing one goal on 11 shots. Cam Talbot relieved him, making 18 saves, including all 13 in the third. Juuse Saros made 27 saves for Nashville.
Detroit coach Todd McLellan praised the team's response: “We’ve answered the bell when it hasn’t gone real well for us. Expected the group to put in a real good effort... That doesn’t always guarantee you a win, but everybody chipped in.” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette noted puck battles: “To me, the game was lost in the second period with losing those puck battles that ended up on that goal.”
Predators captain Roman Josi said of the second period: “We kind of got away from our game a little bit. They dominated the second, had more looks, more chances. Especially off the rush, they’re very dangerous.” Forward Luke Evangelista added: “It’s tight right now. The margins are tight. That’s another tight game, a playoff-type game.”
Nashville defenseman Adam Wilsby sat out with a lower-body injury and is week-to-week; Justin Barron replaced him, with Ozzy Wiesblatt as the healthy scratch.
