Adam Vingan

avingan@tennessean.com

Ryan Johansen woke up from his nap Friday afternoon in Detroit, and something didn't feel right.

Along with his teammates, the Predators center had eaten the standard pregame meal at the team's downtown hotel, the contents of which typically include items such as chicken, salmon and pasta.

He arrived at Joe Louis Arena for the Predators' game against the Red Wings a few hours before the 7:30 p.m. start and spoke to trainers, hoping he could overcome the queasiness.

"Right before warmups, I started puking in the stalls there," Johansen said. "Then I went out for warmups, just trying to do everything I could to stay in the game, played the first period and I just couldn't move. And then I got in after the first period and I started puking uncontrollably."

Several Predators players fell ill with suspected food poisoning Friday, an unprecedented situation for the organization.

It came in waves. Goaltender Pekka Rinne, who made 38 saves in Nashville's 5-3 loss that night, began to experience nausea midway through the game, but powered through it knowing that backup Marek Mazanec was also sick.

Captain Mike Fisher, meanwhile, wasn't affected until he arrived home after the team plane landed in Nashville about 1 a.m. Saturday — an hour behind schedule because the Predators' bus to the airport had to make a detour to a pharmacy to pick up medication.

“I was throwing up, and I couldn’t keep anything in," Fisher said. "It’s tough when you can’t eat and then to try and play, then you’re dehydrated."

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The timing, already rotten, was made worse because the Predators had another game to play Saturday against the Penguins at Bridgestone Arena, leaving less than 24 hours for recovery. They also had only 20 players on their roster, carrying the minimum 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders.

Upon surveying the locker room after the game, Predators general manager David Poile initially thought that the team would need to recall eight players — five forwards, two goaltenders and a defenseman.

As calls were placed to the Predators' minor-league affiliates in Milwaukee and Cincinnati to prepare for wholesale roster movement, Poile spoke to the NHL to discuss how the Predators would field a lineup Saturday that was compliant with the salary cap and league rules.

Reinforcements began to arrive Saturday morning. Forward Austin Watson was part of a group that left Milwaukee at 6:50 a.m. and flew to Nashville through a connection in Chicago, making it in time for the Predators' morning meeting. Forward Harry Zolnierczyk took a car service to Chicago, about 90 miles south of Milwaukee, and boarded a flight from there. Both played Saturday.

Former Predators goaltender Chris Mason, now retired and living in the area, came to Bridgestone Arena at 5 p.m. with equipment in case the team needed to sign him to an emergency contract to back up prospect Juuse Saros, who started against the Penguins. That ultimately wasn't necessary as Mazanec was healthy enough to sit on the bench.

In all, the Predators officially recalled five players who suited up. Johansen, forward Colin Wilson and defenseman Matt Carle were among those who felt good enough to play after checking in with management and trainers throughout the day. Rinne, Fisher and forwards Craig Smith, Colton Sissons and Cody Bass sat out.

"I've never been through this whole thing," Poile said. "The fact that there were seven or eight guys that had it, they gutted it out and they played and that's how we got 20 players in the lineup that night."

The ordeal at least had a satisfying conclusion, with the Predators defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins 5-1.

"Like all the guys are saying, they’ve never seen anything it," Rinne said. "I’ve never seen anything like it. It was unfortunate, but hopefully, in a couple days, we can kind of laugh about it."

Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.

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