The Nashville Predators didn’t win Game 3 against Anaheim, but they still hold a 2-1 lead in the series. They played most of Tuesday’s loss without forward Craig Smith and it looks like that may be the case again on Thursday.
Smith didn’t participate in Wednesday’s practice and he was officially labelled day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to head coach Peter Laviolette.
The 26-year-old finished third on the team with 21 goals in 2015-16. He has a goal and assist this postseason.
Here’s an excerpt from the Tennessean:
Smith appeared to injure himself on the opening shift of Tuesday’s 3-0 loss. Starting the game, Smith dumped the puck into the offensive zone, chasing after Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen behind the net. While attempting to quickly change direction by making a hard cut in the left circle, it looked as if Smith tweaked his left leg in the process, raising it gingerly before heading to the bench.
About seven minutes later, Smith took the ice for one more shift, playing 41 seconds before not returning.
It looks like Colin Wilson will take Smith’s spot on a line with Mike Ribeiro and Filip Forsberg. Wilson had a tough 2015-16 campaign. The 26-year-old scored just six goals and 24 points in 64 games this season, but he did score 20 last year.
“I’ve been there before in my career,” said Wilson. “It’ll be fun to play with those guys if that’s who I end up playing with (Thursday).”
As expected, the Predators' skate this AM will be of the optional variety. Those with a thirst for lines, you'll just have to wait.
— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) April 21, 2016
For those of you who are interested, here’s a video of some Predators fans sneaking cat fish into the arena and throwing it onto the ice prior to Game 3:
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