A few weeks after being honored by the Montreal Canadiens organization for his brilliant career and his involvement in the Montreal community, former defenseman PK Subban received a tribute from the Predators in Nashville on Monday evening, before the Predators game against the Arizona coyotes.
After a tribute video to represent his time in Nashville, Subban performed the ceremonial face-off with Roman Josi and Nick Bjugstad.
Now retired, Subban fueled the passion of Nashville fans for three seasons between 2016 and 2019. During his time in the country town, Subban appeared in two All-Star Games and he also found himself nominated for the winning the Norris Trophy in 2017-2018.
In his first season in Nashville, Subban helped the Predators lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.
In total, Subban has provided 35 goals and 130 points in 211 games in a Predators uniform. Drafted by the Canadian in 2007, Subban also defended the colors of the New Jersey Devils. He had 115 goals and 467 points in 834 games on the Bettman circuit.
The Coyotes, however, spoiled the party by signing a 4-2 victory, a second win in their last four games.
The Coyotes were the first to sign up to the brand. Late in the frame, Clayton Keller recovered the puck after a turnover from the Predators before returning for Nick Schmaltz who opened the scoring.
Nashville, however, provided the answer in the first half of the middle period. Visibly inspired by the presence of his former teammate Subban, defenseman Roman Josi scored with a powerful slap shot on the power play to tie the game at 1-1.
Then a few minutes later, Colton Sissons put the Predators in charge when he scored with a wrist shot that stunned goaltender Karel Vejmelka.
Arizona, however, intended to spoil the Subban evening. Lawson Crouse took advantage of the generosity of teammates Matias Maccelli and JJ Moser to score two straight goals and put the Coyotes back in front.
Christian Fischer put the game out of reach for the Predators with 52 seconds left in the third period by scoring into an empty net.
In front of the Coyotes net, Vejmelka stopped 29 of 31 shots he faced, while his vis-à-vis Kevin Lankinen allowed three goals on 18 shots.
Danault and the Kings have fun
The Los Angeles Kings scored five unanswered goals to claim a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
Los Angeles has now won its last two games and the team has won five of its last seven outings. With the victory, the Kings take second place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Kraken and the Oilers. Los Angeles, however, played two more games than Seattle and one more than Edmonton.
Kings forward Phillip Danault finished the game with three assists.
To launch the Kings attack, who else but Adrian Kempe? Barely 48 hours after a four-goal performance, all of which he scored consecutively, Kempe returned to the charge against the Sabres. In the second period, Kempe scored with a good wrist shot to open the scoring. He then scored the last five goals for Los Angeles.
Then minutes later his streak came to an end when Arthur Kaliyev scored to double the Kings’ lead with his 10e goal of the season.
Visibly in great shape in the middle period, the Kings finished the period by stringing together two goals in the space of 33 seconds. Sean Walker first increased the Kings’ priority to three goals, then Matt Roy netted LA’s fourth goal
The Kings resumed their work returning from the locker room for the third period. Viktor Arvidsson took advantage of a special sequence, when the puck found itself between the pads of Craig Anderson after a good temperament, to push the disc into the back of the net and make it 5-0.
Dylan Cozens helped the Sabers avoid the shutout by scoring his 18e goal of the season later in the game. Peyton Krebs also scored in the loss.
Kings goaltender Phoenix Copley made 27 saves to sign his 17e victory of the season, on his 22e match. In the net for the Sabers, Anderson stopped 22 shots.
The Sabers will be back in action Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks. The Kings will enjoy a few days off before facing these same Ducks on Friday.
Florida wins at wear
The Florida Panthers struggled against the Minnesota Wild to claim a 2-1 shootout victory.
Anton Lundell and Aleksander Barkov scored in the shootout to lead the Panthers to victory. In the opposing camp, Mats Zuccarello is the only player to have hit the target in the shootout.
Eetu Luostarinen scored the Panthers’ lone goal in regulation when he opened the scoring in the second period.
A few minutes later, Kirill Kaprizov tied the game with his 30e goal of the season.
Bobrovsky made 27 saves to record the 30e career shootout victory. At the other end of the rink, Filip Gustavsson blocked 33 pucks in the backhand.
The Wild suffer a fourth loss in their last five games and the team will be back in action on Wednesday against the Avalanche.
The Wings mock the Canucks
The Detroit Red Wings made short work of the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-1 win. Detroit wins its second game in 48 hours against Vancouver, following its 5-2 victory on Saturday.
Dylan Larkin scored the first two goals of the game in the first period to give the Red Wings a two-goal lead and reach the 20-goal plateau this season.
Robby Fabbri, Gustav Lindstrom, Pius Suter and Jonatan Berggren also hit the mark in the Detroit camp.
Larkin, Fabbri, Lindstrom and Michael Rasmussen all finished the game with two points.
Sheldon Dries scored the Canucks’ lone goal in the second-period loss.
In front of the Wings cage, Ville Husso was intractable with 29 saves on 30 shots. Canucks goaltender Collin Delia had a tough outing with six goals allowed on 23 shots.
The Red Wings, who were beginning a five-game road trip, have won their last three games. They have a date with the Oilers on Wednesday.
