Tempered optimism. That is how I approached this game. As you read in my pre-game blog the Preds were all to familiar with that big home win, followed by being put out in 5 games. This time, that won’t happen, guaranteed.
The Preds got out to a fast 2 goal start and rode the momentum and energy from the fans to a huge 3-2 win.
Felder’s Fantastic Five:
1. Shea Weber – That is the Shea Weber we have grown to expect. A monster game from a great player. Shea finished the game with 1 goal, 1 assist, a +2 rating, and had a team leading 5 hits in the game.
2. Quick goals – Once again the Preds tallied twice in a short fashion. Then, after Detroit got their goose egg off, the Preds responded right back just 11 seconds later to sustain their 2 goal lead. These rapid fire goals have Red Wing fans in fits I’m sure.
3. Dan Ellis – Night in and night out he is doing his job. He makes the necessary big saves, keeps the team in it, and rarely gives up a weak goal. That is what this team needs every game and Dan is bringing it.
4. Martin Erat – Marty gets overlooked from time to time but he is a great 2nd line guy who has really elevated his play this series. Tonight Erat finished with 2 assists, a +1 rating, had 4 shots on goal, 1 takeaway, and 1 blocked shot.
5. You, the fans once again – You guys keep rising to the occasion and showing the nation that hockey most certainly does belong in Nashville. Each game you outdo yourselves. I can’t wait to see what you bring on Sunday in Game 6.
Other Notes:
• Quite fun to have Ek and Julie visit. I got to do the talkcast with them and be apart of some of those qik.com videos as well. Always fun to have friends at the game with you.
• Nashville scratches were Ville Koistinen, Kevin Klein, Scott Nichol, and Brandon Bochenski.
• 15:46 to go and the Preds have their first man advantage. Crowd is pumped and the guys look confident.
• The guys do what everyone asked for, they got an early lead, and I can finally start calling the man advantage a powerplay. Erat sent a backhand pass along the boards to Rudy. Radulov cycled towards the net with the puck and passed cross-ice to Dan Hamhuis who tallied high glove. That is why you want Hasek going from post to post.
• Maybe the best part of that powerplay was they set up in the zone for almost the whole PP.
• The Preds keep the momentum coming as Shea Weber tallies from the blueline just 32 seconds after the 1st Nashville goal. Hasek looks uncomfortable and that goal was pretty weak. You want a loud building? You got it!
• Well, the last couple days we read and reread about how Detroit can not give up the quick goals within a minute of each other. Looks like the message didn’t get through much to the chagrin of Detroit fans.
• Smithson goes in for a hit on McCarty along the boards. He gets tabbed for interference although McCarty just touched the puck. I think the penalty has to do with him leaving his feet, but my issue with this is if they call that on Smither, why no calls on Kronwall the previous games?
• Detroit is on another PP and Zanon saved a goal by just getting enough stick on a backdoor pass that had Datsyuk got to it, there is no doubt in my mind Pavel scores.
• What a great example of Vern Fiddler? As the Detroit PP expires Vern out hustles Lidstrom back to the puck…. That guy gives it his all.
• Nashville gets a powerplay but another Pred penalty negates the advantage. The all too familiar theme must stop.
• 46 seconds left in the period, Holmstrom gets called for a penalty, he skates to the ref who is about to announce the call, and the ref had the mic on. A very funny moment ensues as the ref blows his whistle and yells at Tomas to, “GET IN THAT BOX”. The fans loved it and the media section found it quite funny as well.
• Lots of you stopped by in the 1st intermission. Thanks so much for that. You guys made me feel real good with your kind words.
• Detroit gets back in this thing with a backdoor powerplay goal. Rafalski sent it to Datsyuk on the back door, Pavel held the puck a seconds, Ellis came out and dropped his stick side just enough for Datsyuk to tally high.
• 11 seconds later and Nashville responds right back, tit for tat. Devo shoots one from the point. Arnott was screening Haske and the goal slid in along the ice. After this, Chris Osgood was brought in net.
• The wheels are beginning to fall off for the Wings. I hate to use that pun, but they are taking emotional penalties and getting caught in their zone. They are not playing sound, they are for the first time playing desperate and reckless. The refs are really getting to them mentally. Think I’m wrong? Well, at the 2nd intermission the last 3 penalties taken were cross checking, slashing, and cross checking. That is the definition of emotional penalties in my book.
• 40 seconds on 5v3 after Draper gets called for a crosscheck he put on Weber. No goal on the powerplay’s however some good chances for Arnott and company.
• 2nd intermission included a few more visits which I love. You guys are awesome and I appreciate every one of you reading the blogs as often as you do…
• Detroit gets another back door goal. This time it is Datsyuk yet again. 2 Nashville defenders were in front of the net but left Pavel unaccounted for, and he made them pay once again. Holmstrom drew the entire defense towards him.
• A few shifts later Mikael Samuelsson got a great back door feed by was unable to corral and fire the puck in time. Had he been able to it would have been a sure goal since the net was wide open.
• Kronwall leaves his feet yet again and knocks J.P. Dumont to the ice in the neutral zone. This guy is getting ridiculous. At what point will the NHL wake up and realize this guy is doing this almost every game now…
• My biggest complaint so far in this game is that J.P. Dumont is cruising around. He needs to skate to the puck, not think it will come to him. Move your feet, skate. You’re a big part of this offense…
• 7:20 to go and Trotz uses his timeout. I think the guys were winded and an icing call had just been made. Hopefully this brings back the intensity for Nashville.
• Osgood gets pulled for the extra man with 1:18 to go. In his quest to get to bench Chris finds trouble.
• I couldn’t hear Paul say anything about how much time was left. Could you?
• The Preds stave off the Red Wings barrage and win 3-2 behind a huge boisterous crowd of 17,113
My Three Stars:
1. Shea Weber
2. Martin Erat
3. Dan Ellis
Goalie Grade:
A – The starting goaltender tonight was Dan Ellis. Both goals scored by Detroit were back door plays. You can not fault a goalie on those. Dan did what he has been doing all series. Consistent goaltending that always gives you a chance to win. There were some very fortunate breaks throughout the game, but you need those to win these close games and Dan got them. Elly stopped 39 of 41 Detroit shots.
Ref Review:
B – The crew tonight was Greg Kimmerly, Bill McCreary, Mike Cvik, and Steve Miller. This crew wasn’t letting much go. There were a few non-calls for both sides and some of the penalties, had it been a different crew, would go uncalled. Definitely a much tighter called game than the previous 3. In the end, once the players adjusted it was fine and although it is difficult to switch from a crew that doesn’t blow down plays to one that isn’t letting things go, both teams settled down and had 0 penalties in the 3rd period, just like Game 3.
Quotes:
Alexander Radulov – “It’s a 2-2 series and I know they are pretty frustrated about everything probably. We’re going to their building and it’s a new series. We just have to focus and play the same way defensively. We can’t give up anything on the rush because they are too good for that.”
Radulov on the fans – “Our fans have been great all season and they have supported us all year. They are why the team is here and we just want to say thank you.”
Dan Hamhuis on the team scoring first – “Instead of trying to play come from behind hockey and taking chances offensively we didn’t get to do that tonight. We just concentrated on playing strong defense.”
Dan Ellis on the team scoring first – “It was huge. Whenever you can get goals early against a team like that and in a playoff game you want to be able to grab momentum right away and put a team on their heels. We’ve been on our heels most of the series so far because they have gotten out to strong leads. It set the tempo of the game, got the crowd into it, and was a huge momentum builder.”
Dan Ellis on what it will take to win that 1st away game in Preds playoff history – “I think we have everything we need in this locker room to have success. Even though we haven’t won in the past there is a lot of things we haven’t done in the past that we are trying to do in the future and records are made to be broken and that is something we are looking to do.”
Barry Trotz on getting the lead first – “I thought that was real huge. I thought we had a real good first period. I thought we capitalized, we jumped on situations. After we gave up the goal to them we responded, and I thought that was really huge that we responded and got it right back.
Trotz on getting the away win – “It’s going to have to be a real solid effort. We are going to need a lot of focus and some good fortune. That will come. It hasn’t come up to this point but it’s going to come around the corner. The odds are it’s going to happen.”
Final Thoughts:
Another great win at the Sommet Center. Who knows where this momentum can lead. The Red Wings look frustrated and I think Babcock will likely go with Osgood the rest of the series unless he runs cold also.
The Predators next game is Friday night at Detroit. Start time locally in Nashville will be 6:30pm. This is a whole new series folks. Best of 3, the Preds are hot, and you never know what will happen. Yes, they’ve held up their end in home ice, however let’s not forget Detroit won back to back games as well so the momentum can turn quickly. Hopefully, the Preds will break tradition and get a playoff road victory. How could it be sweeter then getting that 1st one in Detroit?
Till next time, take care everyone.
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to [email protected] if you wish to contact me personally. 
Join the Discussion:
»