NASHVILLE – Those in this town who hated to see him go will find it fitting that Kraken forward Eeli Tolvanen was the one to very likely put a dagger in the home team’s dwindling playoff hopes.
It’s become a sport of sorts for Nashville Predators fans to take shots at outgoing general manager David Poile for letting Tolvanen go to the Kraken in a December waiver-wire pickup. And seeing Tolvanen score twice for the Kraken in a 7-2 win Saturday that amounted to a playoff-style defensive lockdown of the Predators will certainly send the local online pundits into overdrive in the days ahead.
Tolvanen and Daniel Sprong had given the Kraken a two-goal lead in a first period in which they set a franchise record by limiting the Predators to just a single shot on goal. Then, after Tyson Barrie halved that deficit by converting a rebound past Philipp Grubauer on his team’s second shot of the day early in the middle frame, it would be Tolvanen providing some crucial breathing room on a rare mistake by Nashville goalie Juuse Saros with under three minutes to play until intermission.
