We all said this game was important. It may have taken the final seconds for fans to see how important, but the Preds used a last second goal, and Steve Sullivan shootout tally to put away the Blues 4-3.
Felder’s FICKLE Five:
1. Stealing Two Points - No matter how they come to you, hard work, luck, or falling in your lap as the case may have been tonight, two points is two points and you will take it every single time. A last second goal by Jason Arnott takes it to OT, and then Pekka shuts things down in the shootout while Sully gets himself a game winner. Personally, I felt the Preds stole these points and didn't quite earn them considering their 2nd period, but hey, in the Western Conference, you take points no matter where you get them.
2. Did We Not Learn Our Lessons on Tuesday? - You would almost think the Preds did not take the ice in the 2nd period considering their 5 shots on goal. To me, the Preds were fortunate to come back in this game and that the Blues didn't jump all over them with a couple more goals in that 2nd period. You can thank Rinne as usual for that one. This team will not be able to win games very often with 40 minute efforts. Tonight, I think St. Louis blew it more than the Preds earned it.
3. Attempted Shots - 34 shots on goal, 11 missed shots, but also 22 shots blocked by the Blues. I really really appreciate that effort, despite the terrible 2nd period in terms of SOG's. Credit to the Blues for blocking that many shots because I believe it made a difference. How about Shea Weber going for a combined 14 total shots (8 on goal, 4 blocked, 2 missed)? At least they were getting pucks toward the net and it did eventually pay off right at the very end of regulation.
4. Hammer and Zanon - Yes, Hamhuis got a "power play" goal, but the defensive pairing of Dan Hamhuis and Greg Zanon got beat badly on a couple of goals. The 1st and 3rd St. Louis goals can be directly attributed to bad positioning by this pair, and a little bit to the forwards not getting back to cover up. Both D-men finish the game with a well deserved -2. Had the Preds not won, I would have wondered if we might see Ville Koistinen return on Saturday, but the 2 points likely washed away a possible one game benching.
5. Hitting and Blocking Shots a.k.a. Giving Up the Body - Kudos to the guy for throwing their weight around tonight for the team. 24 hits and 15 blocked shots shows the sacrifice made in this game. Three Preds had a total of 3 hits apiece to tie for the team lead (Klein, Jones, and Fiddler). Two Predators had 3 blocked shots apiece and they were Dan Hamhuis and Greg Zanon.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Patric Hornqvist, Ville Koistinen, and Jordin Tootoo.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for ST. LOUIS - 17:16 to go. Dan Hamhuis gives the puck away to Brad Winchester on a costly turnover trying to break out of the Preds zone. Brad Boyes carries the puck in, has only Zanon to beat, goes forehand, drags the puck to the backhand and then shoots across Rinne to the glove side from 21 feet out. Rinne makes the initial save with the left leg pad, but the rebound pops out to David Backes buries the puck low glove side. Pekka had no chance since his D left him twisting in the wind on this one. Backes from Boyes and Brad Winchester. Blues take the early 1-0 lead.
* 14:25 to go and after David Perron is crushed by a Wade Belak hit along the boards Belak is then asked to dance by Cam Janssen in response to the hit. Wade has control throughout most of the fight. Cam got a couple of punches in, but the sneaky lefts by Belak kept him off balance and allowed Wade to dominate and get the fight win. Janssen did his job in sticking up for his young and skilled winger, but when your head is down, you will get hit as Perron found out tonight. That was honestly the first big hit I've seen Belak deliver this year. He was saving up for a monster I guess.
* 7:15 to go and after the Preds waste their second man advantage of the game, Perron springs from the penalty box on what looks like may turn into a breakaway. At the last moment Shea Weber makes a brilliant diving stick check and prevents young David from having open ice towards Peks. Very solid play from the All-Star D-man that was worth its own Other Note.
* GOAL for ST. LOUIS - 5:13 to go. David Perron gets his revenge! What an amazing goal by Perron. Perron was working the back of the net, got Shea Weber to chase him along the boards to the bottom of the faceoff circle to Rinne's right before he spun off and went back towards the net. Perron then fakes going back behind the net, cuts the top of the crease and fires off a laser wrister that beats Rinne high glove side. The puck placement on this goal is something to be marveled at. The puck actually went between Rinne's glove and mask, making for one of the more impressive goals I've seen this season in person. Perron from Jay McClement. Blues up the lead to 2-0.
* 4:07 to go and a hat tip to HB user name goverjkg who alerted me to Radek Bonk missing from the ice. Only 1:29 on the ice in the 1st period for Bonky and I'm not quite sure where or when he left the game. When discussing it on media row, John Glennon said he thought Bonk went off with an injury to the face . Later it was reported as an upper body injury and his return to the game was unlikely.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for NASHVILLE - 40 seconds to go. Dan Hamhuis rips one from the point and the puck deflects down low stick side on Mason. Nice play where Jones was coming toward the front of the net from the side and then screened Mase. Hamhuis from Legwand and Jones. Preds get on the scoreboard late to make this game 2-1 Blues lead.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 1 STL: 2. Positives - Ryan Jones further proves why he should STAY on the 2nd LINE at ALL times. Preds leading SOG 14-7. Negatives - Bad turnover by Hammer leads to Blues first goal. 6 missed shots thus far
* 2ND PERIOD
* 9:17 to go. Not much to report thus far. St. Louis has been owning this period in almost every facet of the game. So far, the Preds have put 2 shots on goal in the period.
* 8:31 to go and we have a play under review where Jason Arnott believes he had a goal. He shot the puck with a big slap shot form the outside middle of the faceoff circle to Mason's left. After looking at the replay, as I suspected the puck hit the crossbar and did not cross the line. Good call by the ref right after this play. I have to give them credit when it is due.
* GOAL for ST. LOUIS - 8:16 to go. Zanon and Hamhuis get victimized again. This time Brad Winchester wires a puck mid-level stick side from the slot with Zanon on his back. The puck did catch a piece of Peks stick but still deflected up and in. Boyes made a great play to look Hamhuis off as he slipped the puck across the ice to Winchester. Winchester from Boyes and Backes. St. Louis takes the daunting 3-1 lead.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 1 STL: 3. Positives - It's only 3-1 which is good considering the Blues put 13 shots to the net that period. Negatives - Only 5 shots on goal in that period for Nashville. I thought they learned their lesson about 60 minutes of play on Tuesday but apparently it didn't sink in.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 12:05 to go. Weber passes the puck off to Ryan Suter at the point as he goes for a line change. Suter holds the puck until he passes and then Kevin Klein takes the puck along the boards, dips behind the net, wheels around with Patrik Berglund on his back, and fires the puck in past Mason stick side. The puck just squeezed through under the stick and above the leg pad of former Pred Chris Mason. As Klein went to sweep around the net I remarked out loud that here comes Zidlicky. Well, Klein looked better than Zids ever did on this play as he not only actually got a scoring chance but a goal as well. All too often with Zids he would just lose the puck back behind the net. Klein from Ryan Suter and Weber. Preds cut the Blues lead to 3-2. Interesting note as well: When is the last time you saw 3 defenseman on the scoring summary of a goal? I don't think I ever have.
* 1:15 to go and Peks leaves the ice for an extra attacker.
* 51 seconds to go and Barry Trotz elects to call a timeout for Nashville.
* 22 seconds remain as the Blues take their timeout to make sure they hold on for the 2 points in regulation.
* GOAL FOR NASHVILLE - 3 SECONDS REMAINING - Legwand sends a back hand towards the net. The puck falls in the blue paint at Jay McKee's feet. Jason Arnott takes a desperate swipe at it and makes contact, lifting the puck up and around Mason mid-level stick side. Arnott from Legwand and Sullivan. This game is tied in the final seconds.
* OT
* 2:05 to go and Brad Boyes gets called for hooking Greg Zanon who was driving toward the front of the net. This gives the Preds a 4 on 3 advantage essentially the rest of OT. They BETTER take advantage.
* As we have come to see this season, having an extra man is rarely an advantage for the 28th ranked PP of the Nashville Predators.
* SHOOTOUT
* 1st shooter for St. Louis was Alex Steen. He drove to the left slot, held the puck at the end of his extended stick, then tried to go high glove but Pekka was up to the challenge.
* 1st shooter for Nashville was David Legwand. Leggy took an angle slightly to the right, faked high stick side, and then attempted to go glove side on Mason but could not get it past him.
* 2nd shooter for St. Louis was Andy McDonald. He swung far right, came across thru the crease attempting to stuff it in stick side, but Pekka tracked him and stayed with him the whole way.
* 2nd shooter for Nashville was Steve Sullivan. This was Sullivan's first shootout attempt of the season. Sully took the right slot path and once he got in close he stuffed the puck in low glove side. A nice tally for Sully.
* 3rd and final shooter for St. Louis was T.J. Oshie. T.J. took a dead center path, deked once and then tried to stuff the puck in behind Rinne on the glove side (a move that worked against Dan Ellis in the last shootout against the Preds), but Rinne saw this one coming as well and made a leg pad save for the WIN.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 4 STL - 3.
My Three Stars:
1. Jason Arnott - Arnott scored the game tying goal with 3 seconds left. He finished with a +1, had 4 shots on goal, 1 blocked shot, and won 41% of his faceoffs.
2. David Backes - 1 goal, 1 assist, a +1 rating, 4 shots on goal, 1 hit, 2 takeaways, 1 blocked shot, and won 42% of his faceoffs.
3. Shea Weber - 1 assist, a game leading 8 shots on goal, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot. Also made a couple of stellar defensive plays that kept the game close.
Goalie Grade:B – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. Peks didn't have a chance on the first two goals. The 3rd Blues goal was a 50/50 to me. Rinne stopped all 3 St. Louis shooters in the shootout. A total of 24 saves on 27 shots. Peks gave up a few more rebounds than usual and I think the speed of St. Louis really kept him moving, even appearing shaky at times.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Is that a moment that will rank up there in your hockey career?"
Joel Ward - "Oh defnintely. Any time you get to meet the first black person to play this game is really special. This week was the first time that I've ever met him. He's like the Jackie Robinson of hockey so that's obviously a big moment for me and especially for a game I love so much. If it wasn't for him it could be possible that I wouldn't be here today."
***
Felder - "Have you ever been a part of a goal where the scoring summary is three defenseman before?"
Kevin Klein - "Actually I just talking to Webs about that and I don't think I've ever in my time of playing hockey had that happen so that was pretty funny."
***
Felder - "When you have a 4 on 3 like that in OT, is it actually harder to find a way to get pucks on net since they kind of cluster up in front of the net?"
Jason Arnott - "Yes and no. We kind of didn't play it the way we wanted to, we should have played it a little differently. Then again, you are trying to score that goal so they are diving in front of pucks. It makes it exciting but disappointing as well because 4 on 3 you hope you get a great opportunity to score and we didn't. It was great that we won in the shootout though."
***
Felder - "Did you think towards the game that Mason may have stolen another one?"
Barry Trotz - "No not really. He was real good but it wasn't the same feeling. He was so on last time he was in here that you did have that feeling. Tonight, it didn't feel like he was as on."
Final Thoughts:
I really feel that from tonight thru the next 10 days could very well decide this team's season. You have the shootout win over St. Louis tonight, a tough matchup vs Boston on Saturday, a must win vs Ottawa on Monday, then 4 division games in a row, but to keep with our 10 days we stop at the game in St. Louis on the 21st and do not include the game vs Chicago in Nashville on the 24th. All that said, since there are 6 games in 10 days, 4 of which are vs the Central Division, those 8 points against divisional foes are crucial to stay in the Western race. Tonight they got the needed 2 off the Blues and so now we have 6 points left up for grabs that have extreme importance. Now, don't get me wrong, all is not lost if they struggle over these next 9 days upcoming. There are still chances to get back, but with the trade deadline fast approaching it will be hard to not sell if they are 10 points or more out of 8th place. I didn't call it Fight or Fall February for kicks and giggles. I really felt that this month decides it. They had a great come from behind win tonight, but in many ways they were lucky to get a point.
The Predators next game is Saturday night vs the #1 beast from the East, the Boston Bruins. Game time is at 7 pm CST as usual. I'll be partaking in the "hockey love" as my fiancee joins me for the one game we sit together each season. That means no QUOTES or OTHER NOTES for the next post-game, but I may convince her to write a couple paragraphs like I did last year. Get ready to see some real solid hockey from the Bruins because they not only can score, but they can shut teams down defensively as well. It should be very interesting to see how the Bruins compare to a defense first middle of the pack Western Conference team.
Till then, 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. Also, you may find the new Hockeybuzz Radio website enjoyable as well. It can be found at Hockeybuzzradio.com. Enjoy!
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