Juuse Saros shines for Nashville Predators at NHL All-Star weekend
The Nashville Predators had only one All-Star player at the NHL's All Star weekend in Florida this weekend. Juuse Saros, the Preds' 27-year-old netminder, represented Nashville well in both the Skills Competition and the All-Star game. Not that anyone in Nashville is surprised, as Saros has been the best overall player in Nashville for a couple […]
The Nashville Predators had only one All-Star player at the NHL's All Star weekend in Florida this weekend.
Juuse Saros, the Preds' 27-year-old netminder, represented Nashville well in both the Skills Competition and the All-Star game. Not that anyone in Nashville is surprised, as Saros has been the best overall player in Nashville for a couple years now.
First, at the Skills Competition on Friday, Saros participated in an event called "Tendy Tandem," which is essentially a cooperation game where one goalie attempts to score on the opposing net and the other goalie has to stop odd-man rushes.
Saros was tasked with scoring a goalie goal and he did not disappoint:
Of course, scoring goalie goals is what we've come to expect from Finnish goaltenders that play in Nashville.
Saros has always had great puck skills, but obviously he made it to the All-Star game for his play in net for Nashville. So far this season he's won 19 games with a .920 save percentage and a 2.74 goals allowed average for the Preds.
So on Saturday, Saros would be asked to man the net for the Central Division against the vaunted Pacific Division with familiar foes Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Saros played very well in net during the 2nd period of the game (Connor Hellebuyck played the 1st period). He made 12 saves, including some nice work on a couple breakaways, and clinched a 6-4 victory for the Central over the Pacific.
With the Central advancing to the title game against the Atlantic Division (who beat the Metro Division 10-6), Juuse Saros took 1st period duties this time. While he made a number of great saves on players like Dylan Larkin and David Pastrnak, the offense for the Central Division petered out.
Saros made 11 saves in the period, but left the game with his team facing a 3-0 deficit.
Stop me if you've heard this before, but the lack of offense is not Juuse Saros's fault and he did everything he could to keep his team in the game.
After Saros left, the Central Division didn't fare much better. The Atlantic scored several more goals and pulled away to make it a 7-5 final.
While the stakes in this game were not very high, it was good to see Juuse Saros represent Nashville well in the NHL's All Star game. This was Saros's 2nd All-Star appearance, but this time he seemed to get well deserved attention for his skills.
Now Saros heads back to Nashville to get ready for the final 34 games of the season. Given how well the Preds must play in order to make the playoffs, they will need Saros to be as rested as possible.
— Featured image via Jason Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports —
