The Nashville Predators hosted the Minnesota Wild for the 2nd consecutive Saturday. This game was a total opposite of the last one vs the Wild. Instead of goal aplenty, you had a scoreless game heading into the 3rd until J.P. Dumont got the only, and game winning, goal 10:48 into the final period. With that, the Preds hung on to win 1-0 in front of 14,408 at the Sommet Center.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. Pekka Perfect Again - Can’t find any fault in that game. The rebounds he did give up were handled by the D or Rinne himself. Stopping all 32 Minnesota shots Rinne skated off with his 2nd NHL shutout. Hmmm, seems like I will probably begin to see the traditional goalie controversy talk on the message boards.
2. Shots For All - No, not the flu shots that were being offered. Tonight the Preds registered 43 shots against Josh Harding and the Wild. Only one went in, but it was nice to see pucks going at the net from any and all angles. The only complaint I would have is that a lot of those shots went right at Harding’s chest. But that’s me being picky…
3. Put the Clamps On - The Preds defensive core lead the charge tonight by limiting the scoring chances on Pekka Rinne. The 1st period was stellar, allowing only 4 shots on goal. From there the Preds did give up 28 shots in the final two periods, but the impressive part was how few of those were quality scoring chances.
4. Welcome Back Kleiner - Kevin Klein returned to the ice for the first time since Nov. 8th at Colorado. I thought Klein played a sound game and the rust only showed two or three times. Klein finished the night with 1 shot on goal, but what a shot that was. Head to the QUOTES section to hear from Kleiner.
5. Belak, Belak Anyone? - What a fight with Boogaard. Many will claim the end of it was a bit weak, but the truth is that Boogaard was bleeding and cut on the face. A nice win for Belak in that fight. Head to the QUOTE section to hear more from Wade Belak on the bout.
Other Notes:
• Tonight’s scratches were Rich Peverley and Ville Koistinen. Now we know that shorthanded giveaways DO cost you playing time.
• 1ST PERIOD
• 18:25 to go and Jordin Tootoo gives Marek Zidlicky a little welcome back hit. He pinned him against the glass just before the start of the Minnesota bench. A pretty nice hit with a little extra umph at the end. Since this is Zids last trip to Nashville this season I guess you could call it a small going away present.
• 7:57 to go and Wade Belak and Derek Boogaard are ready to go. Belak landed a beautiful sneaky left early. It was sneaky because that was the hand he was using to hang onto the Boogieman. Belak led for most of the fight, but Derek did get in a few punches towards the end. Unlike last week I’ll give this one to Belak. You can always tell a fighter landed some punches when he ices his bloody fist in the penalty box. Good win for Belak.
• 6:26 to go and there is a game within a game tonight. Martin Erat and Marek Zidlicky have exchanged pleasantries a couple times. The latest incident had them doing little cross checks at each other sticks as they went to their respective benches. How cool would it be to see those two fight?
• END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – MIN: 0 NSH: 0. Positives – The defense is doing an excellent job of limiting the Wild’s shots on goal. Preds lead the shots category 18 to 4. Negatives – Plenty of scoring chances but no goals. The man advantage still looked out of whack at the end of the period.
• 2ND PERIOD
• Around 12:20 to go and one of the more interesting hits of the night occurs. Cal Clutterbuck up ends Joel Ward in an open ice hit. After the hit I had to just shake my head and say, “What the Clutterbuck was that?”
• Minnesota has gotten much more physical this period. Interestingly enough they have put the Preds D on its heels a bit as they have increased their shots on goal and scoring chances.
• 10:45 to go and while the Preds are on the man advantage Josh Harding makes an amazing attempt at a save. He was forced to dive to his left while kicking the legs, spinning his head towards the left and tries to glove the puck. The shot was not on net so the rebound chance was not that dangerous, but give an A for effort to Harding on that one.
• 8:52 to go and Pekka Rinne rises to the test and makes a glorious glove save on the Wild. He was outstretched in a split and got a piece of the puck. The puck did pop out of his glove, but it was safely cleared away by the Preds. Rinne has been forced to rise to the occasion this period as the Wild have put a lot more pressure on the Preds than the previous period.
• 44.7 to go and the refs make a reputation call. Jordin Tootoo gets called for Goaltender interference after Kim Johnsson forces Tootoo into Harding. Have your doubts about it being weak? Well I point to the video evidence that Johnsson was clinging onto the net after play. This occurred because he pushed Toots into such a tight space next to the net. Just a terribly weak call and you can be assured that the crowd is now fully into this one and riding the refs hard.
• END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – MIN: 0 NSH: 0. Positives – Still haven’t given up a goal. Preds still lead the faceoffs with a 61%. Negatives – Despite the shots there were not many QUALITY scoring chances for the Preds. All too often the shots went right into the middle of Harding. The Wild are starting to click offensively and the Preds D is not limiting time and space like it had in the 1st period. This is the 3rd game this season in which the Preds entered the 3rd period with a 0-0 tie.
• 3RD PERIOD
• 11:15 to go. Preds are about to go on the man advantage. These past couple of games have had some boring 2nd and 3rd periods. Oh how I wish he had an offensive guy that was electric night in and out. As of now, our offense is system created for the most part.
• GOAL for NASHVILLE – 9:12 to go. Dumont receives a pass in the middle of the slot and wires one high glove side. Harding got a bit of the puck, but it bounced up, hit the top post, and bounced into the net. This occurred just as a man advantage expired. Dumont from Arnott and Weber. Preds break the 0-0 tie and take a 1-0 lead.
• 5:32 to go and Harding keeps the Wildin this one with a brilliant glove save on Kevin Klein. Dumont and Erat had passed the puck back and forth and bit and found Kleiner pinching in on the opposite faceoff circle. Klein let off a ripper and Harding came up with a brilliant stop that earned the applause of the Nashville crowd.
• 55 seconds to go and Harding reaches the bench to bring out the extra attacker for Minnesota.
• 26.4 to go and the Minnesota Wild call their timeout during the stoppage. The Preds will have to dig in and hold onto another one goal lead to win this game.
• FINAL SCORE – MIN - 0 NSH - 1
My Three Stars:
1. Pekka Rinne
2. J.P. Dumont
3. Josh Harding
Goalie Grade:A+ – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne due to Dan Ellis suffering an injury in the morning skate. Pekka was perfect in net again, earning his 2nd career NHL shutout in the same week as his 1st one. Rinne stopped 32 shots to keep the Wild off the board. With Ellis’ injury expect to see Pekka in net again this Monday night in St. Louis. If Rinne keeps this up we may have our traditional goalie controversy for the season.
Ref Review:D+ – The crew tonight was Stephane Auger, Dan Marouelli, Lyle Seitz, and Tim Nowak. The Tootoo goaltender interference call was bad, real bad. The rest of the night the crew did ok, but there were a couple of questionable offside calls as well.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - “Another bout with Boogaard, but this time you got that sneaky left in there. Has that been going around the league?”
Wade Belak - “The sneaky left? I don’t even know what I was doing, I was just trying not to get hit. It was a lucky punch, and I was glad to get out of the fight.”
Felder - “Any idea why he (Boogaard) had to leave the ice?”
Belak - “Well he was bleeding so that was probably one reason.”
Felder - “Was he bleeding from the face or?”
Belak - “Well face and nose. I gave him bloody nose but I’m sure he’s alright though.”
Felder - “As far as being in Nashville, obviously your ice time is up, are you starting to get more comfortable?”
Belak - “Yeah, it’s great. There a great atmosphere in the locker room right now. It’s fun coming here and working hard. We have a great coach to play for and great fans. It’s only my 5th game playing but I’m really enjoying it, it’s a lot of fun.”
*
Felder - “Did you feel like you got the rust off there in that game?”
Kevin Klein - “Yeah a little bit. It’s tough to sit out for three or four weeks and try and come back and be in the same game shape as they are. I felt that I did alright, just tried to keep it simple and make sure I was moving my feet and move the puck.”
Felder - “Did you feel like you were gaining any rhythm with de Vries out there?”
Klein - “Yeah, I definitely did. We had good communication, which is nice. It’s always nice when someone is talking to ya and telling you if they got your back or where to go. It was good and I felt we worked pretty well today and it was a good job by him.”
Felder - “Could you talk about that play where Harding made an amazing glove save on you?”
Klein - “Oh yeah. Well I just kinda yelled to Arny and he made a nice backhand pass to me so I just tried to get it off as quick as possible.”
*
Felder - “Are you waiting for Martin Erat to break out offensively?”
Head Coach Barry Trotz - “Yeah. Marty hasn’t really had the ability to breakout lately, offensively. For the last while his line has been going head to head, tonight it was Legwand against Koivu and he did a good job. Marty is going through a little bit of a dry spell right now. The thing that makes Marty a really good player, you can tell he’s really on when he is skating with speed, he’s challenging people by taking the puck to the net, keeping his feet moving, and he’s got to get back to that a little bit so hopefully he’ll breakout pretty soon.”
Felder - “What were your thoughts on Klein’s play tonight?”
Trotz - “I thought Kleiner was real good tonight. He handled weight, he had a great chance there in the 3rd period when he jumped into the play. For someone who hasn’t played in quite a while he looked very composed, he wasn’t rattled, and didn’t look like he had any conditioning issues. I thought he played a real solid game, sort of exactly what we think Kevin can do. I thought he was pretty good tonight.”
Final Thoughts:
Well it wasn’t the most entertaining game we’ve ever seen at the Sommet, but the Preds got the job done and have reestablished their home ice with 2 consecutive wins at home. Tonight a case could be made that either the Preds could not bury chances or that Harding played outstanding. Personally, I think it is a mixture of both. Regardless, the Preds press on and continue to stay in the thick of the playoff hunt in the Western Conference.
The Predators next game will be this Monday night in St. Louis. What could be better then hearing a pre-game for this tilt on Hockeybuzz Radio with Paul and myself that night? I can’t think of anything better…. Game time will be 7:30 CST with coverage from FS TN and 104.5 the Zone. Hope you’ll listen in (or surf over) to 560 AM at 6, then watch the game at 7:30.
Till the next time, take care everyone.
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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