NASHVILLE
Joakim Nordstrom Jersey Womens , Tenn. (AP) Losing the Stanley Cup last June wasn’t what hurt Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg the most. Seeing how painful the loss was for veteran center Mike Fisher proved even more agonizing.”That was probably the worst feeling for me personally,” Forsberg said. ”Seeing the look on Fish’s face, how close it was and obviously didn’t know then if he had another chance. And yeah, he’s definitely one of the guys that I would love to win for.”One final shot at the Stanley Cup that’s eluded Fisher throughout his 17-year career wasn’t the priority last August when the 37-year-old center announced his retirement . The Predators, who always wanted him back, persuaded him to return late in the season with some help from Fisher’s wife, country star Carrie Underwood.Fisher says the support means a lot to him.”It also means you’re getting old too,” Fisher quipped.”You don’t have too many chances. But part of this coming back too wasn’t just about me, it was about the guys too and you figure try to help a group and do it together,” Fisher said. ”That’s the thing about team sports and hockey is just having that fun together. There’s nothing like it. So it’s definitely more than just about me the old guy winning. It’s so much greater than that for sure.”Nashville wanted Fisher back for his skills on the ice and his experience.Fisher can play both ends of the ice and can win face-off battles in the defensive zone. He also has played 1,104 regular-season games in his career. In this postseason, only Toronto’s Patrick Marleau (182) and San Jose’s Joe Thornton (160) have played more postseason games than Fisher (140) without winning a Stanley Cup.The 6-foot-1 center now is in the playoffs with a Presidents’ Trophy winner. After finishing off Colorado in six games Sunday night
Tyler Graovac Jersey Womens , Nashville awaits a showdown with the Winnipeg Jets in the second round.Knowing the Predators had a great team was only part of why Fisher came out of retirement. Spending time with good friends added to the attraction.”You look at your career and playoffs are what you do and so much fun,” Fisher said. ”I’ve had the opportunity to have some pretty good runs. But you look back and those are really fun times that you enjoy and you remember with guys. And so it’s good memories.”Fisher helped the Predators win their first Western Conference title last spring to reach the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Final. Then they lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Fisher didn’t make a decision on retirement until August.The Predators made sure to protect themselves while waiting.General manager David Poile signed Nick Bonino as a free agent away from Pittsburgh. In November, Poile acquired center Kyle Turris away from Ottawa as part of a three-team trade giving Nashville plenty of depth at the position.The Predators kept the door open to their former captain. They started talking more in December, knowing the depth needed to play into June. Underwood also kept asking Fisher what he wanted to do. The husband and father who had focused on building a house and a hunting show finally said yes.A chance to win the Cup was too good to pass on, then again Underwood could have just decided to kick Fisher out of the house.”That might’ve been part of it,” Fisher said with a laugh. ”But yeah, definitely it’s good to be back. She’s a big fan. She’s going to be at all the games she can.”Fisher announced his return at a news conference Jan. 31 . He spent February working his way back into shape and signed a one-year, $1 million deal for the rest of the season Feb. 26 when NHL rosters expanded at the trade deadline. Fisher, who had 18 goals and 24 assists last season, scored in his first game back , a 4-3 win in Vancouver on March 2.Against Colorado
Noah Hanifin Jersey Womens , Fisher centered Nashville’s fourth line. He averaged 11 minutes, 16 seconds per game in the first round while winning 75.5 percent of his face-offs.Forsberg said Fisher looked like himself from his first game back and obviously is more comfortable with each game.”Really good guy to have around the team,” Forsberg said, ”and he’s been awesome.”— CHICAGO (AP) — Dominik Kahun has turned into a dangerous scoring option for the Chicago Blackhawks.Playing with Dylan Strome and Alex DeBrincat sure helps.Kahun had two goals and an assist, Cam Ward made 43 saves and the Blackhawks beat the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 on Sunday for their seventh straight win.Chicago’s second line of Kahun, Strome and DeBrincat delivered once again as the Blackhawks continued their surprising push after a lackluster first half of the season. Strome had a goal and two assists, and DeBrincat extended his career-best point streak to eight games with three assists.“It’s working good for us and we just hope that we can keep going,” said Kahun, who has three goals and four assists in his last four games.Strome, who came over in a Nov. 25 trade with Arizona, also put up big numbers while playing alongside DeBrincat with the Erie Otters in junior hockey. Kahun has shown the ability to produce while playing on a couple different lines during his first NHL season.“They made a lot of plays for us,” coach Jeremy Colliton said. “At key times
Brian Gibbons Jersey Womens , too.”After Detroit pulled within one in the third period, Patrick Kane responded with his 33rd goal for Chicago. Kane made it 4-2 when he beat Jonathan Bernier low on the stick side with 3:33 left, extending the NHL’s longest active point streak to 14 games.Kane tacked on an assist when Jonathan Toews added an empty-netter with 2:01 remaining. It was Toews’ 25th of the season.Gustav Nyquist and Christoffer Ehn scored for Detroit (21-28-7), which dropped its third consecutive game. Bernier made 31 stops.“Standing at the blue line as a D man and watching guys go by is not good enough,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “Coming back and picking up the wrong guy’s not good enough. I didn’t think there were particularly hard reads. We just had a bunch of guys in my opinion whose brains weren’t going at a high enough level.”The Red Wings were coming off a 3-1 loss at Buffalo at Saturday. Nyquist’s 14th goal got them within one with 4:30 remaining, but they were unable to run down the surging Blackhawks.It’s the longest winning streak for Chicago (23-24-9) since it won seven in a row from Feb. 19 to March 4, 2017. The crowd of 21,941 — a season high for the Blackhawks at the United Center — roared as the final seconds ticked off.“We’re a tough team to contend with when we’re playing the right way,” Strome said. “We’ve got four good lines, and everyone brings something different to the table.”Chicago got off to a fast start behind Kahun, Strome and DeBrincat, who each had two points in the first period.Kahun scored his 10th goal of the season when he lifted a loose puck over Bernier’s glove at 11:04. Kahun tried to pass to DeBrincat
Jaroslav Halak Jersey Womens , but it went off Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser and right back to him.Kahun then set up Strome’s 14th goal of the season. He skated down the right side and played it into the middle, where his pass went off Strome’s right skate for a 2-0 lead with 1:57 left in the first.“It’s really frustrating and disappointing that we gave away the first period really,” Ehn said.Detroit played much better in the second and broke through after Kane turned it over near the blue line. Ehn skated in and drove a wrist shot from the left point over Ward’s left shoulder 15 minutes into the period.It was the second career goal for the rookie forward. He also scored Dec. 23 at Toronto.The Red Wings put more pressure on Ward toward the end of the period, but the goaltender gloved a loose puck in front to help hold them off.NOTES: Colliton had no update on G Corey Crawford, who joined practice on Saturday for the first time since he suffered a concussion on Dec. 16. “Hopefully he can string a few more good ones together,” Colliton said. … Blackhawks D Carl Dahlstrom was active, and Gustav Forsling was a healthy scratch. Dahlstrom, Forsling and D Slater Koekkoek have been rotating in and out of Chicago’s lineup. … The Blackhawks and Red Wings play again on Feb. 20 in Detroit.UP NEXTRed Wings: Visit the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.Blackhawks: Visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
Konu Seçenekleri
