What a wild night in Nashville. Chris Mason returns to the Music City for the first time since the trade this past offseason and leaves the city dancing. Missed opportunity after missed opportunity cost the Preds and Mason stopped all 47 shots on goal the Preds put up. In the end it took a shootout to decide the scoreless contest. Ellis got beat on both attempts while Mason stopped both he faced. Blues skate away with a 1-0 shootout victory.
Felder’s FICKLE Five:
1. Missed Chances – Oh how many there were. In fact, after a bit I stopped putting them in the Other Notes section because it would have filled the page. On top of the 47 shots on goal (and multiple posts hit in the process), you also have 12 missed shots, 16 shots blocked by St. Louis, and only 2 players on the Pred team without a shot on goal (De Vries and Pihlstrom). To lose this game had to make fans stick to their stomach considering the tremendous effort by the Preds. This effort will go down as the most shots for without scoring a goal in franchise history to this point.
2. Shutout Streak Over – Believe it or not before the game started I came up with a trivia question for the Hockeybuzz Radio website. The question was, “When is the last time the Preds were shutout at HOME?” The answer? Jan. 13th, 2004 in a 0-0 tie vs Los Angeles. Mason was in net for the Preds that game. Now, the 148 game streak has been put to an end, and the trivia question is blown.
3. Plenty of Shots and Strong D – It can not be overlooked how well the D played in this game. St. Louis only had 17 shots on goal compared to the Predators 47. That difference is the largest shot advantage in a single game in franchise history. Too bad it came in a loss. Leading the way was none other than Shea Weber with 7 shots on goal, J.P. Dumont had 5 shots on goal, and four other players were tied for 3rd with 4 shots on goal apiece.
4. Goaltending Galore – You can read more in the Goalie Grades section but both net minders shone in tonight’s game, and they will both receive credit for a shutout. Before the game started I decided to add Mason into the grades in honor of his return and that turned out to be a smart move. A combined 64 shots in tonight’s contest and the goalies let in none.
5. The Extra Man On the Ice – Oh my, how disappointing it was to see the man advantage not convert tonight. They had multiple chances and put in a solid effort but just could not find the back of the net. The “powerplay” unit went 0-5, including a full 2 minutes of 4 on 3 in OT. 13 shots for this unit, including 6 of those coming during that 4 on 3. As I stated in the Other Notes, if you can’t score on a 4 on 3 in OT you don’t deserve the game, and the Preds made my point for me.
Other Notes:
• Tonight’s scratches were Vern Fiddler due to illness and Kevin Klein due to reasons beyond my comprehension.
• Also, the Preds were in their road white uniforms while the Blues displayed their 3rd jersey.
• Mason did not receive the traditional “Sucks” chant in the lineup. Those that did say it were drowned out by the multiple cheers from the crowd. First time I’ve seen this happen for a returning player as even Vokoun got the “sucks” chant if I remember correctly.
• 1ST PERIOD
• 19:33 to go and Jordin Tootoo was inches from putting the first goal in on Mason. He faked a slapper, held the puck, then fired one high glove on Mase after he had dropped to the butterfly. The puck struck the upper 90 and Mason was spared on that one. That has to be in his mind though.
• 15:47 to go and the Preds get another solid scoring chance. This time Nick Tarnasky had a rebound chance right in front all alone but Mason made the right leg pad save.
• 9:58 remaining in the period and the Preds catch their first break on the Blues 2nd shot on net. The puck got sent thru the ice for a back door chance. Ellis went post to post, Cam Janssen went 5-hole, hit the right post, off Ellis left leg, and then the puck skittered off and out of harms way. What appeared to be a goal ended up in a inside leg pad save. Very fortunate break there.
• 3:20 to go and Keith Tkachuk gets tabbed for interference. Got to be honest and say that Tkachuk had every right to be upset with this call. Battling for the puck with Nichol, Tkachuk sort of leaned too far on Scooter and Nichol fell to the ice. Scooter sold this one put the Preds on the man advantage. Weak call though.
• END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – STL: 0 NSH: 0. Positives- The Preds put some early pressure on Mason with 15 shots on goal. Also the team only took 2 penalties that period. Negatives- An uncharacteristically low faceoff percentage at 30%. The man advantage failed to take advantage on two opportunities. That period could easily be described as missed opportunities.
• 2ND PERIOD
• 18:07 to go and the Preds have one where they appear to score but somehow the puck does not go in. Erat received a feed to the right of Mason, went through the crease and attempted a backhander from the right post that struck the left post. The rebound fell to the crease but Roman Polak quickly saved the day by clearing the puck out of there. Another close call that spares Mason.
• 13:57 to go and we have a hooking penalty against Martin Erat. The real story is the amount of time the Blues have spent in the Nashville end the past few minutes. St. Louis was really forcing the play and eventually forced the Preds to take a penalty. At one point both Dan Hamhuis and Greg Zanon got stuck for a 2:07 shift. The Preds struggled to even get the puck out of their zone.
• 9:28 to go and we have yet another missed opportunity against Mason. This time Joel Ward’s shot strikes iron after going off Mason. Both teams are likely shaking their heads at this point, but Nashville has probably blown twice as many chances.
• 7:11 to go and Tootoo plasters Jay McKee against the boards bringing a stale crowd to its feet. Just a monster hit that will surely show up on the highlight reel..
• 3:30 to go and it’s becoming a broken record. A man advantage opportunity that strikes iron instead of net. This time we have Joel Ward posted up on the right side of the crease. A shot from the point goes off the end boards, finds Ward in front, but his shot strikes the left post despite beating Mason. Frustration continues.
• 10 seconds to go and Ville Koistinen falls to the ice on the powerplay. As he gets up he slams a Blues players against the bench. Honestly, VK got away with interference on this one since the puck was nowhere near the Blues player.
• END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – STL: 0 NSH: 0. Positives- 12 shots on goal. Ellis continues to play well. The D has limited St. Louis to just 13 shots on goal thus far. Negatives- Missing chances left and right.
• 3RD PERIOD
• 10:30 to go and I can’t even begin to tell you how droll this period has been. A few chances here and there but mostly two teams struggling to score. The Preds have not given fans much to cheer about unless they love goaltending and defense.
• 8:52 to go and Jason Arnott heads to the box for an interference call. In such a close game this is not the time to be taking a bad penalty. Fortunately the penalty killers were up to the task and it didn’t cost the team dearly.
• 22.2 to go and Barry Trotz uses his timeout to give the players on the ice a breather. They were just called for icing after a long shift. Wise move to ensure you don’t give this game away.
• TO OT WE GO and each team receives a point. The Blues are 4-2 in OT this year while the Preds are 4-1.
• 4:17 to go and Hammer exerts his hitting force again, this time plastering Barret Jackman after he tripped Erat along the boards. Of course this drew the ire of the Blues but the hit was clean at the whistle.
• Preds have 2 full minutes of man advantage, which is a 4 on 3 in OT. They don’t score on this and they don’t deserve to win this game.
• For the last 30 seconds of the PP a Blues player did not even have a stick to use. But, the unit fails again, epically I might add. Plenty of chances that they didn’t bury.
• 12.1 to go in OT and Ellis makes a beautiful save in the chest on David Backes wrister.
• At this time the Blue also elect to use their timeout after withstanding that “barrage” of a Preds man advantage.
• No goals scored in this contest still so to the SHOOTOUT we go. In OT the Preds outshot the Blues 9-1. In shootouts this year the Blues are 2-2 while the Preds are 2-1.
• 1st shooter for St. Louis is David Perron – Perron dekes multiple times, gets Ellis to go down then slips it in behind him for a GOAL.
• 1st shooter for Nashville is Rich Peverley – Peverley goes left, comes across for a glove side try that Mase easily stops.
• 2nd shooter for St. Louis is Brady Boyes - Boyes fakes gloves side shot, dekes, and slips it in behind Ellis similar to Perron.
• 2nd shooter for Nashville is Ville Koistienen – VK must score to keep the Preds in it. Koistinen tries to go gloves side and is stopped by Mason. BLUE WIN.
• FINAL SCORE – STL - 1 NSH – 0.
My Three Stars: As voted on with 5 minutes remaining in regulation.
1. Chris Mason
2. Dan Ellis
3. Shea Weber
Goalie Grades:Dan Ellis: A / Chris Mason A+ – In honor of his return I will also be grading Chris Mason tonight. The starting goaltenders tonight were Chris Mason for St. Louis and Dan Ellis for the hometown Predators. Ellis got beat in the shootout by both Blues forwards sliding the puck in behind. Ellis finished the night stopping all 17 shots he faced. An outstanding effort for Ellis that was overshadowed by Mason’s performance. Mase stopped all 47 shots on goal, plus both shootout attempts.
Ref Review:A- – The crew tonight was Bill McCreary, Ian Walsh, Pierre Champoux, and Scott Cherrey. Two really weak calls: one was the interference call against Tkachuk in which Nichol sold the penalty. The other weak one was a no call with just 28 seconds remaining where Jordin Tootoo was hooked.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder: “Do you feel like this is one of the top wins in your career?”
Chris Mason: “Definitely so far. Just for the reasons of being with the team so long and this being my first game back in Nashville. It was crazy.”
*
Felder: “Do you think you might have been in their (Predators) heads a little bit?”
Mason: “I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t think so, I’m only one guy. These guys have done this a million times and they’ve played Vokie already so I don’t think so.”
*
Gathered by the Predators staff - On Chris Mason’s performance…
Dan Ellis - “He played an outstanding game, he was phenomenal in there. He never quit on any of his saves and we threw everything but the kitchen sink at him – I think we did throw the kitchen sink too and he stopped that also. There’s not much more we could have done tonight. We played an all-around game, we played unbelievable defensively, I didn’t really have any hard shots, and our powerplay was moving and shooting the puck. You can’t really take many negatives away except for the fact that we lost the game.”
*
Felder: “Tonight it was a matter of inches for the powerplay. What can be done to make those inches up?”
Predators Head Coach Barry Trotz: “ (laughs) Longer sticks. I don’t know. When you talk about the powerplay, are you getting chances? Yeah. Are you shooting the puck? We were shooting the puck. The only thing we had a real problem with was entering the zone and we didn’t find the back of the net. I wasn’t disappointed in the powerplay.”
*
Felder: “For Kevin Klein, is it something he’s missing in his game or what is it that causes him to be a regular scratch?”
Trotz: “No. Kevin’s a guy that… (hesitates) well, you know, right now we are trying to get Ville going in terms of the powerplay, he does a real good job there. We feel we need that aspect right now. Kevin’s going to get his chance and when he gets his chances he’s got to be real good. He’s big, he’s strong, he can skate, and he can do a lot of different things. As a young guy you have to keep your spirits up and work real hard. If I see Kevin not doing that then he’s not going to get back in the lineup. But there are only 61 games left and I guarantee you he’s going to see some.”
Final Thoughts:
This game will surely be viewed as a missed point. Yes, you did get the one for taking it to extra time, but everyone that viewed this game will say the Preds clearly should have won, but failed to capitalize on their opportunities before the shootout. Also, it appeared the Blues had the book on Ellis as both skaters beat him by sliding the puck in behind him. I’m sure that will be taken care of immediately as you know the next time the Preds are in a shootout one of the opposing shooters will attempt to do that.
The Predators next game will be this Friday night in my hometown, Atlanta. The Preds will drop the puck with the Thrashers at 6:30 pm CST and this game will be shown on FS TN with my good friends Pete Weber and Terry Crisp.
Also, don’t forget to tune your TV’s to the NHL Network Thanksgiving night as they feature Pete Weber on their show titled Voices. The show will air at 6:30 pm CST and I know I am looking forward to it. In case I don’t write till then, have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Till next time, take care.
Don’t forget to tune into the Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio show, Monday nights from 6 to 7 pm on WNSR 560 A.M. with Paul McCann and myself discussing all things Preds! Listen in at the WNSR Website for the best new Preds radio show around! The podcasting for the Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio show can be found at the following: Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio Podcast. Enjoy!
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to [email protected] if you wish to contact me personally.
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