In another life, I used to produce these “day after” notebooks called “LeftGovers.” I’ve decided to bring them back for the 2017-18 season. This series will be a dumping ground, if you will, for random information, stats and observations from the night before.
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Nashville Predators 5, Colorado Avalanche 2
Bridgestone Arena; Nashville, Tennessee
November 18, 2017
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LEFTOVER THOUGHTS:
* Nashville is now 7-1-2 when scoring first this season.
* They’re now 9-1-2 when leading after 40 minutes.
* There were five goals scored by five different goal scorers on Saturday night.
* 11 different Preds collected at least one point.
* With his assist on Craig Smith’s opening goal, Filip Forsberg tied Steve Sullivan (2006-07) for the second-fastest Predators player to notch 20 points in any one season (19 games).
* Sullivan’s 20th point in 2006-07 also came on November 18.
* Anthony Bitetto’s goal was his second career tally.
* It was also his first on Bridgestone Arena ice.
* Former Predators prospect Vladislav Kamenev broke his left arm on Thursday night and, therefore, did not face his old team.
* Samuel Girard, however, did play and was one of the most noticeable Avs players on Saturday.
* Girard logged 21:19 of ice time (second most on Colorado), had a shot on goal and five more shot attempts.
* Andrei Mironov scored his first career NHL goal on Saturday, putting the Avs on the board.
* Mironov finished with a goal, an assist and a plus-2 rating. Not bad for a guy on a team who lost 5-2.
* Colorado’s Dominic Toninato made his NHL debut.
* Austin Watson was given a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct for his hit from behind on Toninato.
* It wouldn’t surprise me if Watson gets a one or two-game suspension for the hit.
* Kyle Turris finished without a point but was a team-high plus-2.
* Nick Bonino’s assist in the second period was his first helper in a Preds sweater.
* Craig Smith has four goals in his past six games.
* Mattias Ekholm is now on a three-game goal scoring streak.
* They’re just 19 games into the 2017-18 campaign but the Preds have already scored five or more goals five times.
* With Smith’s goal and Kevin Fiala’s two assists, Nashville now has eight players with point totals in double-digits.
* For comparison, the Anaheim Ducks have just four.
* Viktor Arvidsson now has eight goals on the year.
* It took him until December 6 (25 games) to get eight goals last season.
