The Nashville Predators’ 5-5-2 record isn’t pretty, and their effort in a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks wasn’t so pretty either.
Nashville couldn’t get much going against the Sharks tonight, who improved to 7-5-0 on the season. The two teams combined for just 48 shots on goal, so it’s not surprising that a fight and a debatable hit ended up stealing the show.
(You could safely use the eye-roller “These teams don’t like each other” with this one, too, as there were 12 power plays and 54 total hits. Maybe it’s fitting that Joe Thornton ended a milestone night where he scored his 1,400th point [on an assist, of course] by getting thrown from the fray.)
The Predators and Sharks were already playing a physical game, but things started to get nasty when Ryan Johansen hurt Marc-Edouard Vlasic. We’ll see if anything comes of this beyond the contest; in the moment Johansen merely received a boarding minor:
Actually, something did come of it, as Johansen and Joe Pavelski engaged in a rare fight later in the third period:
DeBoer: "He's got a big set on him - so to speak - and that's why he's our captain." #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/bRLVPQhIeD
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 2, 2017
NBC Sports California’s Brodie Brazil notes that it kind of looked like a pro wrestling move happened during the fight:
Looked like either “Rock Bottom” or the “Stone Cold Stunner”, can’t remember. @WWE | @SanJoseSharks pic.twitter.com/U0s3g5LGW7
— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) November 2, 2017
This continues the recent trend of WWE-inspired bouts, as Kevin Bieksa delivered a “superman punch” that would have made Roman Reigns proud in a recent fight.
Indeed, that run of violence overshadowed much of the play.
It’s up to the Predators to bring the spotlight back to the scoreboard, as so far they’re struggling with Ryan Ellis on the shelf and bigger targets on their backs.
Joey: "I’d like to see us stay out of the box more... 15-16 minutes of even strength hockey, I’d like to see what our team would be doing.”
— Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) November 2, 2017
James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.