The Nashville Predators have a great week behind them.
And it comes to a fitting end when the team meets reigning champions Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium in downtown Nashville on Sunday night, Swedish time.
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After a victory over the top team Florida Panthers earlier this week, and Pekka Rinne’s jersey ceremony on Thursday night, the Predators are faced with another test and a unique experience when two important points are at stake against Lightning in the open air.
The Predators are not just looking for two points in the hunt for a top-3 spot in the Central Division. The team also wants to show itself on one of the biggest stages and show the rest of the world that Nashville is a hockey city to be reckoned with.
Predators svenske forward Filip Forsberg sees it as fitting that it is the reigning champions who stand for the opposition when he and his teammates step out on the ice on Saturday in front of 65,000 fans in the stands at Nissan Stadium, which is home to the NFL team Tennessee Titans on a daily basis.
– It is clear that it will be extra special to meet Tampa who won back-to-back and that they have Victor Hedman as one of their leaders, says Forsberg to NHL.com/sv. It will be great fun to face them.
– We have built up a hockey culture here in Nashville over the years that has really taken over the city, and to get this match and bring in almost 70,000 people will really be fun no matter what. It is a good sign that the organization is going in the right direction and doing good things to get this opportunity, and that the fans have made it possible so it will be fun.
Forsberg, 27, tops both the Predators’ internal shooting league and the Swedish shooting league with 26 goals in 39 matches this season. The Uppsala son is well on his way to beating his personal best on 33 goals he set in the 2015-16 season.
The week began with a deserved 6-4 victory over the Florida Panthers on away ice. It was followed by a 2-1 victory on penalties against the Dallas Stars at home in Bridgestone Arena on Friday night, Swedish time. Ahead of the meeting with the Stars, the Predators hoisted Pekka Rinne’s number 35 on the ceiling, and revealed that a bronze statue of the Finnish goalkeeper will be erected at Bridgestone Arena next season.
– We knew that this would be a special week for us… and there are many things happening outside the sport itself, says Predator’s Finnish forward Mikael Granlund to NHL.com/sv. There are many friends and family members here and things like that. So it’s really fun for everyone. You enjoy it, try to take things in as much as possible, because this is a type of match that does not happen very often. It’s something you really have to enjoy. At the same time, it is important to be on our toes when it is time for the match because we want to go out and take the two points. If we can succeed with that, it has been a very good week.
Nashville has experience playing outdoors after participating in the NHL Winter Classic 2020 in Dallas against the Stars at the classic Cotton Bowl Stadium. However, there will be a big difference on Saturday, when the majority of fans will be at Predators.
[Läs också: Premiär under bar himmel för Hedman och Lightning]
– It will be cruel, says Forsberg. The Winter Classic in Dallas was really cool in many ways, it was a great event, but at the same time it was 85 percent Dallas supporters. We had plenty of support, it was also an away match, but it will be even better that most here will be Nashville fans… We packed more people than usual in Bridgestone Arena yesterday (read Thursday), so it will be fun to get in yet more people here.
The Predators are in first place in the Western Conference with 64 points in 52 games. Now they hope to have a perfect end to a special week with two important points in front of a large audience.
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