New York. Last night, Mattias Ekholm returned home to Nashville, and his old fans celebrated him with a standing ovation.
– It was an experience I will never forget, says 33-year-old Mas to Sportbladet after his team’s 6-1 thrashing in Edmonton.
For eleven years, Mattias Ekholm belonged to the Nashville Predators before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers last spring.
So, when a hillbilly returned from Ratvik last night for the first time since his return, it seemed special.
“It was scary just landing at the airport, going to the hotel and then going to the guest dressing room before the morning warm-up,” he said over the phone after the return.
– But I tried not to think about things other than the game we were going to play.
It worked — even during a commercial break, the Predators thanked their longtime fans with a tribute video on the jumbotron, followed by a standing ovation from former fans.
– Things went well in the beginning, when they showed mostly old goals. But then there were pictures of my son William when he was one year old. Then it became powerful, continues Mathias.
– And the audience’s reception was, of course, wonderful as well. When you’re in the middle of it, you probably don’t get a lot of personal accolades, but I got them tonight. It was an experience I will never forget.
To my delight, Eky was able to enjoy the match itself as well. Because after two bitter losses to Vancouver, things finally loosened up against the favored Oilers at Bridgestone Arena. They outrebounded the Predators and won 6-1.
– I think we played well enough to win the second game against the Canucks, we had problems getting the ball in. But tonight we had to show what we can do, and of course it was great. “We needed this win,” says Mathias.
Connor McDavid, as always, scored a technical goal. He went down on the blue line, spun up the ice, got the puck back, got up and raced into the box and scored his second goal of the season.
However, the kings of the evening were Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The first contributed a goal and three assists, and the second contributed a goal and two assists.