Nashville has won four consecutive games

The Devils shut out the Coyotes 3-0 Nashville has won four consecutive games, the latest of which a 3-2 come from biggest behind victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. Trailing by a goal with under four minutes to play Sergei Kostitsyn tallied his fifth goal of the season unassisted to tie the game 2-2. Less than a minute later, an odd man rush led to Colin Wilson’s seventh of the season to give the Predators a dramatic victory in fron of their home fans at Bridgestone Arena. Anders Lindback improved to 8-1-2 in goal replacing the injured Pekka Rinne and the Predators improved to fourth place in the Western Conference. Only the Minnesota Wild have scored fewer goals in the Western Conference than Nashville. The Predators have played five consecutive games in which the total has not exceeded five goals.

New Jersey finally seemed to put a full sixty minute effort together on Wednesday night against Phoenix. The Devils shut out the Coyotes 3-0 and the two players they need to carry them the remainder of the season did the heavy lifting. Martin Brodeur made 29 saves for his fifth win and third shutout of the season, and Ilya Kovalchuk scored twice to produce his first two goal game as a Devil. Rookie defenseman Mark Fayne also scored for the Devils, his first NHL goal. New Jersey’s last four games have also seen no game go over five total goals. The Devils 54 goals are the fewest of any team in the NHL.

The Devils desperately need to string together a winning streak, but it won’t be easy to do against a talented and disciplined Predators club that year after year seems to coast under the radar. New Jersey will try to come out flying like they did against Phoenix on Wednesday but it won’t be as easy against Nashville. Expect biggest the Predators to try and hold the fort early and frustrate New Jersey before taking chances later in the game.