NHL Recaps: Preds sweep Global Series, Botls finally get preseason win, and more
Anthony Scultore
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NHL Recaps: October 8, 2022
The Nashville Predators are coming home 2-0 after defeating the San Jose Sharks in both games of the NHL Global Series in Prague, Czechia.
Back in North America, 10 more preseason games were played as the regular-season will open on this continent Tuesday, October 11 with the Tampa Bay Lightning taking on the New York Rangers.
Speaking of the Bolts, they finally picked up their first win of the preseason (1-4-0) and it was in the nick of time. Let’s recap.
NHL Recaps: Predators sweep Sharks in Global Series
Nino Niederreiter scored two goals to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at the 2022 NHL Global Series on Saturday at Prague.
Filip Forsberg also scored, and Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves for the Predators, who beat the Sharks 4-1 in the first game of the series on Friday. Luke Kunin and Logan Couture scored, Mario Ferraro had two assists, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 15 saves for the Sharks.
Before the game, Czechia native and NHL legend Jaromir Jagr dropped the puck to a thunderous roar.
Kunin, who was traded to the Sharks from the Predators in July, gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 14:24 of the first period.
The Predators came back with three goals in the second period to take the lead. Niederreiter tied it 1-1 at 4:35.
Couture scored 10 seconds later to move the Sharks back ahead 2-1.
Forsberg tied it 2-2 at 6:29, scoring on a wrap-around after his initial shot from an angle was stopped by Kahkonen.
Niederreiter put the Predators ahead 3-2 when he scored at 12:13.
Eeli Tolvanen led a 3-on-2 break before centering to Niederreiter, who had time to gather the puck and shoot it into the far side of the net for his third goal in his first two games with Nashville.
Niederreiter signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Nashville in the offseason after spending the past 3 1/2 seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I mean, obviously, most important thing is that we won, but it’s great being able to contribute to a team,” Niederreiter said via NHL.com. “Definitely (a) huge goal for our team, and very happy we won the game.”
NHL Recaps: Bolts win first of preseason
Lightning 5 vs Panthers 2
Vladislav Namestnikov picked up the hat trick and added an assist to claim first star honors and give the Bolts their first win of the preseason. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 27 shots in the process with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point getting the other Tampa goals. Spencer Knights stopped just 26 of 31 for the Panthers.
Blues 6 vs Blackhawks 0
Jordan Binnington is having a strong exhibition season picking up a shutout on 24 saves for St. Louis. Ivan Barbashev scored twice with Ryan O’Reilly, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, and Nikita Alexandrov getting the other markers.
Kings 6 vs Ducks 3
Arthur Kaliyev led the Kings with a goal and 2 assists. Sean Durzi picked up a goal and an assist on the blue-line with Jonathan Quick making 25 saves in the victory. Trevor Zegras, who was injured early in the preseason picked up an assist in the contest for the Ducks.
Wild 5 vs Stars 1
Kirill Kaprizov (2G-1A) and Mats Zuccarello (1G-2A) notched 3 points each for the Wild. Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 stops for the win. Joe Pavelski was the lone Stars goal scorer.
Senators 3 vs Canadiens 2 (OT)
Drake Batherson was the Senators hero in OT and finished the contest with a goal and an assist. Shane Pinto picked up his 4 assist of the preseason and waiver pickup Magnus Hellberg stopped 18 for the win. Cole Caufield registered his 4th exhibition for the Habs.
Capitals 4 vs Blue Jackets 3 (OT)
Dylan Strome scored 39 seconds into the extra session to lift the Caps over the Jackets. Anthony Mantha, Alex Ovechkin, and Nic Dowd were the other Washington scorers. Columbus’ Yegor Chinakov registered his 6th of the preseason. Patrik Laine and Sean Kuraly also scored for the Jackets. Darcy Kuemper (36 saves) outdueled Elvis Merzlikins (28 saves) in this match.
Islanders 3 vs Rangers 1
Kieffer Bellows, Mathew Barzal, and Zach Parise scored for the Islanders but were led by Ilya Sorokin, who made 28 stops on 29 shots. Kaapo Kakko broke up the shutout bid by scoring his third of the preseason for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin made only 13 saves in the game.
Maple Leafs 5 vs Red Wings 1
Auston Matthews and William Nylander each scored two goals and Morgan Rielly notched 3 assists in the Leafs win over the Wings. Matt Murray stopped 18 of 19 for Toronto. Pius Suter got the Wings only goal.
Devils 5 vs Bruins 3
Jack Hughes picked up a goal and an assist to help the Devils knock off the Bruins. Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, Yegor Sharangovich, and Tomas Tatar also scored for Jersey. David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron recorded goals for Boston in the losing effort.
Golden Knights 5 vs Coyotes 1
Jack Eichel picked up his 4th goal of the preseason to help the Knights beat the hapless Coyotes. Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy, Jonathan Marchessault, and Alex Pietrangelo notched the other Vegas goals. Adin Hill and Logan Thompson combined for the winning stopping 23 of 24 shots. Hey! At the least the Yotes got more than 7 shots in the game.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article