That was a fun game. Yes, defensive battles have their own merit, but sometimes a wide open, free flowing, and speedy game is quite enjoyable to watch as well. Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators went back and forth, ending with a 6-5 OT win for the Preds.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. Sully is Officially BACK - The last few games we've seen the full return of Steve Sullivan, and this game was no different. Sullivan's two 3rd period goals helped propel the Preds back ahead of the Oil halfway into the 3rd. Just a solid game from Sullivan, and we now can all say that Sullivan is back to top form.
2. Legwand the Leader - He has earned that 'A' on his chest the last month plus, and tonight was no different. Leggy tied for the game lead in goals with 2 in this game and led all forwards on the ice with 8 shots on goal. Legwand is skating with force right now and he has extended his goal streak to 4 games.
3. The Possession Game - I talked about it after Detroit, and it bears mentioning tonight again. Preds won 58% of their faceoffs, led by Jason Arnott who won a whopping 14 of 17 total faceoffs. Also, the guys added up 16 takeaways, led by David Legwand with 3. Also, the Preds attempted to slow down the quick and slippery Oil by racking up 25 hits, led by Greg Zanon with 5. Tonight, in a wide open game like this, the possession of the puck can be key.
4. The Man Advantage Comes Through - I liked the Ryan Suter power play goal obviously, but for the guys to actually score on the 4 on 3 in OT, that was unexpected. They have missed out on that a handful of times this season, but tonight they finally took advantage. Yes, it appeared Roloson was down because of an injury, but regardless the ref didn't stop the game and Arnott used it to win. The man advantage went 2 of 4, with 6 total shots on goal.
5. The Assist Machine - I'm talking about J.P. Dumont. Another 3 assist night for J.P. who also had 3 assists on Saturday night vs Detroit. As much as we talk about how he needs to shoot more, as long as he racks up assists, I'll stay quiet about his play. I've said it before to some people, but Dumont is always clutch in the last 3/4th of the season. He seems to always go through a dry patch near the mid-season, but then when the Deadline comes near and the playoff push is on , J.P. is money from then on.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Radek Bonk, Martin Erat, and then Ville Koistinen was a healthy scratch. Wouldn't want the guy you are dealing to get hurt...
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 13:38 to go. David Legwand extends the goal streak to 4 games. Joel Ward glides up the right boards and feeds Legwand in the low slot. Leggy blows the puck by Roloson glove side on a beautiful backhand shot. The Oilers led the charge the first four minutes, but Rinne kept the Oil off the board. The Preds used their rush to capitilize. Legwand from Ward and Klein. Preds lead 1-0.
* GOAL for EDMONTON - 10:05 to go. Greg de Vries jumps up and hits Ladislov Smid at the blueline trying to dislodge the puck. An instant before this happens Smid dishes to Sam Ganger in the far slot. Gagner wheels in with speed, cuts across the crease, and then roofs the puck up and in stick side on Pekka Rinne. A gorgeous goal that sees the puck hit the upper 90 of both posts as it circles around inside the net. Gagner from Smid. This game is tied at 1 just halfway into the 1st period.
* 7:30 to go. The most amazing sequence of events as Peks makes a save, then in the process of stopping a low rebound, he loses his blocker pad and goalie stick. Peks then goes on to make a couple of quality saves without stick or blocker. At one point Suter hands Rinne his glove, Peks puts it on, then they realize the blocker pad glove is at Rinne's feet, so once the puck is out of the zone they switch back gloves. Somehow, in the midst of all that confusion, Rinne stops a handful of shots. It was really too bad that the Oilers scored a few shifts later because that was an incredible series of saves for Pekka.
* GOAL for EDMONTON - 5:35 to go. Sam Gagner wheels around behind the net and pops out to Rinne's left. He feeds Marc Pouliot near the inside outer edge of the faceoff circe to Peks left. Pouliout sees Rinne a tad too far to the left and rips the puck into the net mid-level stick side. Gagner drew Peks attention and made a nice set up there. Pouliot from Gagner and Erik Cole. Oilers take a 2-1 lead.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 1:34 to go. Leggy gets another one to tie this game up. A blocked Joel Ward shot from the far slot slows the puck up as it slides across to the back door. Legwand buries the puck quickly on the half empty net. Legwand from Ward and Klein. Preds tie the game at 2.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 2 EDM: 2. Positives - Both teams keeping a brisk pace. Nice to see a quick response from the Preds when Edmonton took the lead. Preds ahve won a whopping 75% of the faceoffs. Negatives - Oil have a very slight lead in the shots on goal, 14-13. The forwards failed to pick up Pouliot or Gagner leaving Peks very little chance on the goals against.
* 2ND PERIOD
* POWER PLAY GOAL for NASHVILLE - 15:47 to go. Ryan Suter lets off a laser eyed slap shot from the middle of the point. This was a perfectly placed shot that rose just enough to beat Roloson above the right pad and below the goalie stick. Pin point accuracy almost. Suter from Jason Arnott and Steve Sullivan. Preds take a 3-2 lead.
* 7:00 to go. Roloson is completely out of the net and Jason Arnott misses his 31st empty net chance of the season. He pulled the puck wide left of the gaping net. Steve Staios had driven Ryan Jones into Roloson, taking the goalie down and out. Staios did get a holding call on the play but that will be overshadowed by Arnott missing yet another empty net chance. I give him credit for burying all 3 of the back door plays last Saturday, but he SHOULD have had an easy one right there.
* 1:44 to go. A delayed penalty was upcoming against Nashville. After the whistle Shea Weber pushes Jason Strudwick. Strudwick drops the gloves and Weber obliges. A pretty solid bout in which the winner is debatable. I think I would give a slight edge to Strudwick. A little surprising someone would challenge Weber so quickly considering he literally did knock out Andreas Lilja in their fight last Saturday. Nonetheless, both guys held their own in an even tilt. That said, Belak dresses for a reason Shea and we need your cannon out there as much as possible.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 3 EDM: 2. Positives - A man advantage goal for Nashville. Preds DOMINATED the shots on goal that period 16-4 to up the total shots lead to 29-18. Negatives - Arnott missed a wide open goal with an empty net.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for EDMONTON - 18:17 to go. This knock down drag out fight continues. A rebound is given up after Fernando Pisani drives in past de Vries along the far boards. The puck pops off of Rinne's left leg pad right out to the middle of the crease where Andrew Cogliano buries the puck stick side on Peks. No chance for Rinne again as his defense has been letting him down tonight. Colgliano from Pisani. This fantastic tilt is tied up at 3.
* GOAL for EDMONTON - 14:45 to go. Smid gets the puck at the top of he zone and fires off a slap shot stick side on Rinne. J-F Jacques gets a tip on the puck in the crease and redirects it from the stick to glove side, leaving Rinne no chance. Jacques from Smid and Zach Stortini. Oilers start real strong this period and take a quick 4-3 lead.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 12:04 to go. Jason Arnott makes up for the missed empty net goal with a beautiful glove side shot that goes across Roloson. Steve Sullivan apparently tipped the puck in on the back side. Steve set up the captain on the back door, forcing Roloson to come out and challenge. Sullivan from Arnott and J.P. Dumont. Preds tie this fantastic game at 4.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 10:54 to go. The never say die attitude stays in Nashville. This time a rebound from Dan Hamhuis' slap shot at the left point. The puck came off Roloson, dropped to his left, and Kyle Brodziak tried to get the edge on Sullivan. In that effort, he accidently kicked the puck to Sully's stick at which point Steve promptly buried his own empty net back door chance. Preds with a quick response to the Edmonton lead come back, rally off 2 straight goals, and now have regained the lead. Sullivan from Hamhuis and Dumont. Preds now retake a lead, the score is now 5-4.
* GOAL for EDMONTON - 6:08 to go. The Wild West showdown continues. Erik Cole wheels out from behind the net to Rinne's right. As he get just in front of Rinne he lets off a backhander towards the stick side. The puck take a bounce off Rinne's stick, off the pipe, and then drops into the goal. Bad luck again but keeps this wild game of back and forth going. Cole from Gagner and Strudwick. This game is tied once again, now 5-5.
* TO OT WE GO, and quite honestly, this game deserves extra time. What a battle.
* 3:35 to go in OT and the Preds will get a chance to put this away on a 4 on 3 man advantage. In recent memory they have failed to put away these OT man advantage chances. Jason Strudwick got called for high sticking. Preds took a timeout at this moment as well.
* POWER PLAY GOAL FOR NASHVILLE IN OT - 2:29 to go. Something happened to Roloson after a save because he dropped the stick and looked like he was in real pain. The play kept going and Jason Arnott took advantage high stick side. Arnott from Weber and Dumont. Preds WIN.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 6 EDM - 5.
My Three Stars:
1. Steve Sullivan - 2 goals, 1 assist, +1, 6 shots on goal, and 1 takeaway. It's safe to say, Sully is BACK!
2. David Legwand - 2 goals, +2, 8 shots on goal, 3 takeaways, and 1 blocked shot.
3. Sam Gagner - 1 goal, 2 assists, +2, 2 shots on goal, and 1 takeaway.
Goalie Grade:C+ – The starting goaltender tonight was February's NHL Rookie of the Month, Pekka Rinne. Peks was the victim of some shoddy defense and bad luck. The effort was there but overall giving up 5 goals can only go as high as a C+, which he earned. Rinne stopped 23 of 28 shots against.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Talk about that sequence there where you lose the stick, the blocker pad, you are having to take Suter's glove."
Pekka Rinne - "I think you just think about the game you don't really think about if something happens if the puck hits you in the hand."
Felder - "Is that what happened? Did it hit your hand?"
Rinne - "No, no it didn't. If it had it probably would have broke my hand. Suter was telling me to cover your hand but I was almost waiting for the ref to blow the whistle but they didn't. You just have to battle and they didn't score."
***
Felder - "Talk about how it kind of feels like there is a whole new belief in each other and that you guys can come back because now it looks like you guys are out there and never appear down and out."
Jason Arnott - "Well that's the kind of belief we have to take right now. Every single game is so important. We lose one game and we move down in the standings. So from now till the end of the year we have to come out with points and everybody realizes that in the room and everyone is coming out to play."
***
Felder - "Talk about your goal there with kinda some pin point accuracy there just above the pad."
Ryan Suter - "I wouldn't say it's very accurate. I just close my eyes and shoot it. *laughs* Nah, it was a good play by Arny getting it off the boards and I just pulled it to the middle, saw I that I had a a lane and I took it."
Felder - "Talk about that sequence where you had to give Rinne your glove."
Suter - "Oh yeah. I've never seen that happen. I was telling him to hide it, put it in his pants or something, so he wouldn't hurt his hand. Worked out where the blocker came back and I guess it was just one of those freak things."
***
Felder - "Looking at the last few games, I guess it's pretty safe to say that Steve Sullivan is back?"
Barry Trotz - "I thought their line was a little slow out of the gate today, but as the game went on I thought Arny, Sully, and J.P. were fine and really started going. So yeah, Sully is really skating well right now."
Felder - "Considering his play the last month plus, are you thinking about leaving the 'A' on David Legwand?"
Trotz - "Well we'll discuss that. I haven't really put too much thought in it. I let the 'A' linger a little bit last month because we were on the road and it was an oversight on my part. Not sure what I'm going to do quite honestly."
Final Thoughts:
What a great game. Regardless of the outcome, I think everyone can admit that was a fun, back and forth, and playoff style game. Great to watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Predators next game is Thursday night with, for maybe the first time ever, a VERY meaningful game against Columbus. The Jackets are ahead of the Preds and in the playoffs at this point. Game time is at 7 pm CST. Be on the lookout for my Around the NHL Tonight column that morning.
Till most likely tomorrow and not late tonight (unless something breaks), take care.
We'll see you in the morning for Trade Deadline. Should be fun!
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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