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Blackhawks Get 1st Win in 08 in Shootout at Nashville *Peverley Called Up* |
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Chicago had yet to win in 08’ and the Preds have yet to lose at home in 08’. Something had to give and the Blackhawks came out with a strong effort behind real solid goaltending and took the 2 points in the shootout fashion at the Sommet Center.
Felder’s Fickle Five:
As a side note, I’m not doing the frustrated version since the Preds got points. I’ll go with fickle in OT and shootout losses from now on.
1. Dumont’s streak continues. The guy is hot and now has 8 games in a row with points. Tonight he set up both PP goals for the Preds. Dumont finished the night with 5 shots on goal, 2 hits, 3 takeaways, and 1 blocked shot.
2. Havlat is still a Pred killer. That pretty much sums it up. When he plays against the Preds, he gets points. Martin was +2, only 1 shot, and 1 takeaway.
3. Lots of shots generated, but not many goals. I like getting 37 shots, but prefer at least a 10% success rate. There should have been at least one goal in the 1st period had it not been for the next player in the 5.
4. I think Blackhawk fans should ride Lalime till Khabibulin gets his head on straight. He had a real good game, kept the team in it, and honestly deserves some starts from what I saw. Until Patrick goes sour I’d ride his play in net.
5. Gelinas had an interesting night. He had 4 PIM’s which is rare for him considering going into the game he had 6 penalty minutes all season. The most interesting stat is that after I’ve seen him take a beating all season long he finally dished some hits back. Gelly doesn’t get alot of credit for what he brings to the table and I can even admit that I’ve overlooked his play at times this season.
Other Notes:
• Ryan Suter returned to the lineup tonight with Klein being the healthy scratch.
• 15:08 to go in the 1st and Dan Ellis makes two key saves back to back. 1st on Kane up close then another of the rebound on Martin Havlat. This play ended up being the Dolphini Secure Your Net save of the net.
• 11:20 to go and for the 1st time I notice that Trotz has broken up the Zids and Ville defensive pairing. He put Suter back with Zids. After a stoppage then I see Zanon and Ville come onto the ice.
• I stand corrected since later in the 1st I see Suter and Zanon paired up. Must have been a line change that was never completed.
• 3:13 and Lalime makes some stellar save while doing the splits. After the play Cam Barker went after Martin Gelinas and both received roughing penalties.
• 2:19 to go in the 1st and we have our first Zid-venture of the night. This time he makes a nifty move just over the bluline gets around the D-man, then goes to the “office” behind the net. From there he came around the net but gave up the puck without a shot.
• The most disappointing thing about the 1st period would have to be 16 shots for the Preds, but no goals.
• Bonk is definitely trying to get off the schnide and score a goal. In the 1st he totaled for 5 of the Preds shots.
• 18:43 to go in the second and Patrick Sharp tallies for the Blackhawks. Martin Havlat (a Pred killer) let off a laser pass that Sharp tipped over a sprawling/diving Ellis.
• Ellis didn’t really have much of a chance and actually looked as though he might make the save. My one problem with the goal is the D-man who was standing in front of the net and saw the pass go in front of him. I’ll let you guess who.
• 9:49 to go in the 2nd and the Preds get a quality 2 on 1 chance but give credit to the Blackhawks D for disrupting it. The one thing on that play is that Arnott was streaking towards the net and Dumont was looking to set him up. In my opinion when you have been as hot as J.P. lately you have to shoot that puck.
• 4:13 to go. Another Zid-venture this time not as flashy, but still yielding no shot on goal.
• Apparently the Preds forgot where the trigger finger was in the 2nd period. From 16 shots in the 1st to just 6 in the 2nd. They did miss 5 shots though so they were shooting some, just off target.
• To me the lack of Other Notes should indicate that this game has yet to be that exciting. I’m hoping for a great 3rd period or the lucky red ties streak (4-0) will be dead.
• Before the 3rd period starts we did find out that Hordi would not be in for the rest of the game. He suffered the “lower leg” injury. At least it is a bit more specific than lower body.
• Trotz did do a bit of mixing and matching D –men the rest of the night. I guess my eyes weren’t as bad as I thought. The 2 and 7 combo seemed to be the only mainstay.
• 15:11 to go in the 3rd and a great backdoor set up that had J.P. Dumont finding Zids for a PP goal. Nice set up by J.P. and his point streak continues.
• All the goals thus far have been set up by defensive lapses (albeit the Preds were on the PP) and the goaltenders had no chance.
• The PP goal seemed to ignite just about every person associated with the Preds in the building. The players had more energy and the crowd did as well.
• 8:43 to go and the Blackhawks tally as Lang takes a pass from Kane then beats Ellis 5 hole. This goal was set up by an Ortmeyer turnover around the blueline. I was considering putting Jed into the 3 stars till the giveaway.
• 6:46 with the Preds on the PP and Lalime keeps Chicago ahead with a gorgeous save. Go look this one up on the highlight reel if you love great saves.
• Big PP for the Preds with 5:36 to go. A great opportunity to tie the game and Leggy does it as I write this with a great goal to beat Lalime 5 hole after a rebound from Dumont’s shot near the boards.
• Another OT game for the Preds. If you are gonna lose at least get a point. Let’s hope this doesn’t go to a shootout since the Preds have not fared too well there.
• 4:05 to go in OT and Leggy has what appears to be a breakaway until Duncan Keith makes a great poke check from behind before Legwand gets his shot off.
• 3:00 to go in OT and Arnott gets called for a penalty that looked a bit soft. A tripping call but lets just say that the Blackhawk may have sold it a bit…..
• Preds killed it off. Great play by the PK tonight.
• To the shootout we go. I have a queasy feeling. At least I got my wish for an exciting 3rd period.
• Well my gut was right unfortunately. Ellis got beat on each shootout attempt but ended up lucky on Havlat’s try. Kane was living up to the billing and when Sharp stepped to center ice I knew it was game over. Sometimes you hate to be right.
My Three Stars:
1. Dumont
2. Havlat
3. Sharp
Goalie Grade: B – The starting goaltender tonight was Dan Ellis. Had it not been for the shootout he probably would have received an A. He just was not comfortable at all. The rest of the game he played outstanding, but to win a shootout you have to stop at least 2 shooters and he didn’t do that.
Quotes:
As always keep in mind that all my quotes come directly from questions that I ask. I do not pull them from other reporter’s questions so if you hear or see them elsewhere you know where they came from.
“I hadn’t really seen any of their guys before but I knew they were all skill players. They got some good young talent and I just tried to take the shot away but I didn’t take enough away and they got the 2 points.” – Dan Ellis on the shootout.
“They are huge for us. You don’t want to go thru a game that you don’t reach at least one point. We have to take that as a positive note that we didn’t go away empty handed.” – Dan Ellis on getting points even in a loss.
“I got to score in those shootouts because that is my job to score goals. I’m 6-0 in shootouts (meaning no goals and 6 misses) and I’m not saying don’t put me in there but sometimes you just get thinking so much about it and that is my problem. I just have to regroup and go out there and don’t think of any movements before and just see what the goalie gives me.” – Alexander Radulov on his shootout performance.
“I don’t remember if I’ve shot at him. I don’t try and watch the goalies. All the goalies are different. They all play different. The good goalies, they just react, you don’t know what they’re going to do. That’s my problem, because I start thinking before the shootout ‘What am I going to do, what am I going to do?’ and you need to have an empty head and just do it. I know I can do it I proved that last year. Just a little bad luck and we all have to work on it.” – Radulov on whether or not he had faced Lalime.
“Yeah, they were huge. They were the reason we got a point tonight really. If you go to the net and execute those plays then good things will happen. PP came through in a huge way tonight, no question.” – Barry Trotz on the strong Preds special teams play.
“I think J.P., the big thing with J.P. is that he is really moving his feet now and his leadership has come to the forefront in a critical time. He’s really stepped up. He’s going and doing the hard things. Alot of aspects of his game are generated just from moving his feet and being acutely aware that he has to do that.” – Trotz on Dumont’s play.
“Much better effort by Suter tonight. I thought his battle skills were really good, I thought he distributed the puck really well, and he recognized danger and played a real smart game.” – Trotz on whether or not Suter played more like he wanted.
Final Thoughts: The Predators next game is this Tuesday at the Sommet Center vs the Calgary Flames and their Pred killer Jarome Iginla. 7 PM start time as usual. Strong possibility with Hordi’s injury we see a Milwaukee call up. *Just been announced that Rich Peverley got the call up today to replace Hordi's spot in the lineup. Jordin Tootoo was placed on IR to make room for him.* Till then, take care Pred fans.
P.S. I really like the new layout of the site. I hope you do too and I love the new features available. What are your thoughts Hockeybuzzards?
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