Predators turn Rangers away
PREDATORS 1
RANGERS 0
Rookie forward Philip Tomasino scored early in the second period and Juuse Saros stopped 32 shots for his second shutout of the season as the Predators beat the Rangers, 1-0, on Sunday night at the Garden.
The Predators have won five straight, including a sweep of the three New York area teams over a four-day stretch. They beat the Islanders, 4-3, on Thursday night and the Devils, 3-2, on Friday night.
“All the games were different. I give the players credit,’’ Predators coach John Hynes said about the rare trio of road wins in the region. ”I really liked the mental focus of the guys. They rose to the task.”
Saros stopped six shots in the first period, 10 in the second and 16 in the third to pick up his 16th career shutout.
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 23 shots for the Rangers, who lost for the second time in three games and just the third time in the last 15.
After a scoreless first period, Tomasino scored his fifth goal of the season at 1:44 of the second with assists to Filip Forsberg and defenseman Alexandre Carrier.
Forsberg has 11 points — seven goals, four assists — in his last 10 games.
The Rangers had a power-play chance at 6:25 of the third, but Saros stymied Ryan Strome from in close with a right pad stop, then denied Strome again with a glove save.
Nashville was without one of its top scorers, Ryan Johansen, who missed the game after he was placed on the COVID-19 protocol list on Sunday. Johansen has three goals and 12 assists in his last 11 games.
The game included another open-ice hit by Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba, who collided shoulder-first with Nashville’s Luke Kunin late in the second period.
Last Tuesday at Chicago, Trouba appeared to drive his right shoulder into the chin of Jujhar Khaira, sending the Blackhawks’ forward to the hospital and into concussion protocol. The next night at home against Colorado, Trouba hit Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon with a shoulder check midway through the second period. The Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog immediately dropped his gloves and squared off against Trouba.