During the pre-game show I spoke about this game being the first battle in what will be a playoff war in the remaining three games of this series. Tonight, in the Battle of Smashville the Nashville Predators took the first victory with a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets in front of 13,064 at the Sommet Center.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. Hmm, Maybe Our Rookie Goalie Is Better... - The ImPekkable Rinne stood quite tall in the net tonight. Of course, being somewhere near 6' 5" helps with that. A highly touted matchup of the two young rookie net minders vying for the Calder did not help the stats of one Steve Mason. A few too many rebounds plagued the Jackets net minder while Rinne stopped the flurry of shots coming his way. The final stats in the game read Rinne with 2 goals against and stopping 31 shots. Mason with 4 goals against and only stopping 19 shots. That will certainly inflate the GAA of Mason a bit. So, all in all, in this game Peks was better. There's still two battles left though to prove who might be worthy of the Calder.
2. The Top Guns Fire Again - Another solid night for the top two lines. Sullivan and Erat get the goals. Legwand and Arnott with the assists. These guys are going to have to keep it up to keep this streak going. I'm sure everyone held their breath when Sully and Erat both went down at separate points in the game. Not to moan again about the Deadline, but if just one of those top forwards go down we really don't have the depth to replace it that easily. So I know I was very happy to see the hottest goal scoring Pred of all, Sully, return to the ice.
3. The Future Captain - I'm talking about Shea Weber of course. Whenever Jason Arnott gets done with his time wearing the 'C', my bets are all in on Weber being the next captain. This guy leads on the ice every shift. Not only is he a major offensive threat from the blueline, but he also contributes in other big ways if he is not racking up points. Tonight is a prime example since Weber finished with a +1, his 3rd fight in as many games, only 1 shot on goal, a team leading 5 hits, and he blocked 4 Columbus shots. This season has proven his value and it would be surprising if Shea "the Beast" Weber is not the next Pred to wear the 'C' in a few seasons.
4. It's in the DETAILS - Barry Trotz mentions the little details of games every so often and I thought tonight was a good opportunity to point out what he means. I really feel that when two teams who are very similar (as these two teams are) face each other, the details matter even more. The Preds totaled up 31 hits, 9 takeaways, 9 blocked shots, and won 56% of the faceoffs. Those little details play a huge part of close games. So sometimes, it is those little things that may go unseen that provide the big difference in who does and does not get two points.
5. Depth Scoring - I've discussed this point before but I'll briefly go over it again. To win in close, playoff style games, you have to get scoring not just from the top guns, but a goal here and there from the depth guys too. Tonight was a perfect example as Vern Fiddler and Ryan Jones both scored goals, one from the 3rd and the other from the teams 4th line. That's the type of things it takes and when those guys chip in, usually only good results can come from it. The scoring was spread out tonight with 10 different Preds getting a point and the team getting a collective +10 rating in the battle.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Radek Bonk and Ville Koistinen (shock).
* 1ST PERIOD
* 13:41 to go. Shea Weber gets hit hard at the end boards. Ryan Jones goes after Jiri Novotny, but Novotny won't go with Jones and Ryan ends up getting a roughing penalty. As the Jackets continue the play with an extra man out there with Mason on the bench, Ryan Suter gets a separate penalty for holding. Blue Jackets get two full minutes of 5 on 3. Huge power play for Columbus here to set the tone.
* Two quality scoring chances for the Jackets on that sequence. The best chance was a back door play to Jason Williams who appeared to have open net, but Peks makes an amazing last second stick save right on the red goal line. The play was reviewed and the video confirms that Rinne was ImPekkable on that penalty kill. Big momentum swing goes the Preds way. I guess there really is a reason why the Jackets are actually below the Preds in the PP %.
* 9:04 to go. Jason Arnott lets off a blistering slap shot from the left point. The puck strikes the cross bar on Steve Mason's gloves side, bounces back, strikes Jordin Tootoo's left hand in which he is gripping the stick, bounces off his chest, and then falls to the ice and in. The play went to a video review where it was determined that Jordin Tootoo batted the puck in. This was a tough call either way so I don't envy the video review judge. Personally, from what I saw the call made of no goal was probably the correct call.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – CBJ: 0 NSH: 0. Positives - Preds killed off the two minute 5 on 3 with the brilliant stick save by Pekka. Pekka Rinne and Steve Mason are delivering what we all anticipated so far. Preds winning the faceoff war with a 74%. Negatives - Preds getting outshot by Columbus 13-6.
* 2ND PERIOD
* Steve Sullivan went down on a scramble in front of the net where Jared Boll bulled his way through the crease looking for a rebound chance. Jordin Tootoo gave Boll quite the vocal beat down after the play. Sullivan went to the locker room limping. Sully did return to the bench a few minutes later.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 12:44 to go. Vern Fiddler gets the first volley of the battle as he buries a rebound. Mason had an initial save on Jordin Tootoo's shot with his left leg pad. Antti Pihlstrom gets the rebound and pops the puck out to the glove side where Mason was left no chance. Fiddler buries the open net chance and puts this team on the board first. Fiddler from Pihlstrom and Tootoo. Preds lead 1-0.
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 8:14 to go. Jason Williams slips in behind Joel Ward and gets a feed from Kristian Huselius. Williams burns down the left slot, fakes a high glove shot, get Peks to drop, and then roofs the puck in high stick side on a backhand. A gorgeous goal to be honest. Williams from Huselius. This game is now knotted up at 1. Let the battle continue.
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 5:55 to go. Rick Nash strikes the 2nd blow against the Preds. Nash cruised down the right boards and let off a laser that beat Peks high stick side. This was a sniper's shot that struck in the middle of the battle. Nash from Huselius and Manny Malhotra. Columbus takes a 2-1 lead.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 4:21 to go. The Empire Strikes Back... Ryan Jones goes hard to the net, puts a shot on Mason who then gives up a rebound in the crease. The puck is sliding to the stick side of Mason as Kris Russell accidently pushes the puck into his own goal by trying to clear the crease. The opening salvos are over and now the tank driving to the net got himself a tally mark. Jones from Wade Belak. The battle wages on tied at 2.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 1:46 to go. Sully STRIKES to push the Empire ahead by one. A beautiful feed by Jason Arnott through the neutral zone springs Steve. As he cruises in all alone he goes forehand, then backhand as he lets off a split second wrister to beat Mason glove side. A goal scorers goal right there. Sullivan from Arnott. Preds pot home another salvo as they take the 3-2 lead.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – CBJ: 2 NSH: 3. Positives - A nice flurry of goals by the Preds. Still dominating faceoffs at a 63% clip. Really taking the body with 25 hits. Negatives - Still getting out shot 23-17. Some well placed shots get past Peks, but those would be hard to stop no matter who was in net.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 15:36 to go. Ryan Suter lets a wrister go at the left point this bullet has eyes. Through the traffic in front Martin Erat tips the puck past the suddenly mortal Mason. A sneak attack that does significant damage. This was a milestone goal for Marty since it was his 100th career NHL goal. Erat from Suter and David Legwand. Preds push the Empire's lead to 4-2.
* 10:54 to go. Kris Russell uses his stick to pitch fork Tootoo up and into the boards hard. Toots had to be helped to the bench and had a severe limp. Russell received an interference penalty. Not a dirty play, but certainly a play that may cost Jordin some playing time with that injury. Pred fans can't whine too much because the Preds have been hitting Columbus hard all night too. It will be interesting to see if the Belak monster comes calling for a Jacket to face him. The battle has all the elements you would expect: hits, blood, and a tough mental test.
* 5:44 to go. Inexplicably, Tootoo has returned. That's a tough son of a gun if I ever did see one. He hits those boards really hard feet first.
* 1:49 to go. We have ourselves a scrap, or two. Long over due as the tensions built up all game. After the whistle Jiri Novotny went to the crease and led with his shoulder, hitting Suter I believe. Then a scrum occurs and out comes Shea Weber with a fight in his 3rd consecutive game. He and R.J. Umberger danced at the end boards behind Pekka. Another good bout, but this time I give the Beast the edge with some thundering shots down on top of Umberger's head towards the end of the fight. You can tell Shea Web is ready to fight his way to the playoffs.
* 1:40 to go and Steve Mason vacates the net, heads to the bench, and puts on the extra Columbus attacker.
* 21.1 to go and Greg de Vries gets called for a hooking infraction. This was the right call and put the Jackets on a 2 man advantage with their net empty.
* FINAL SCORE – CBJ - 2 NSH - 4
My Three Stars:
1. Pekka Rinne - 31 saves on 33 shots. A huge save on the early PK. Proved to be the better goalie in this contest.
2. Vern Fiddler - 1 goal, a +1, 3 shots on goal, 2 hits, 2 takeaways, 1 blocked shot, and won 7 of 13 faceoffs.
3. Jason Williams - 1 goal, game leading 6 shots on goal, 2 blocked shots, and won 5 of 12 faceoffs.
Goalie Grade:A- – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. I've glowed about Pekka earlier in this one. Just want to say another technically sound game from Peks who just keeps showing the league his great stuff.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Columbus talks about you guys like the big brother. Do you feel like out there on the ice you guys see them get rattled when you take the lead?"
Vern Fiddler - "Yeah. It's been a rivalry and we have taken a lot of points off them over the years. They have got a really good hockey team over there but we are in the hunt for the playoffs and we don't really care who they are over there."
***
Felder - "When you face a goalie like that for the first time, is there a game plan that you have set where you want to target on him?"
Steve Sullivan - "Mitch Korn talks about his tendencies. Obviously when you talk about a great goaltender like that there is not too many holes, not too many weaknesses. I think when you look at the goals that went in, besides mine, a lot of them were in the crease. That's how most goals are going to go in in this league now. It's from the blue paint to a couple feet out. That's the areas we have to go to to scores some goals and we did tonight."
***
Felder - "Considering that Columbus considers you guys the "Evil Empire", you're Darth Vader, when you guys jump back on them and take a lead, do you almost see them mentally defeated on the ice?"
Barry Trotz - "I don't know about that. They are a good hockey team and no one is going to quit in this league. They were ahead of us before the game so that's not really ever crossed my mind."
Final Thoughts:
Give the Preds the first battle's victory in this war. You may be tired of that theme by now, but this game had the intensity, the closeness, and the passion I expected. The fact is, right now the Jackets can't come to Nashville and win. This is 10 games in a row for the Preds at home when Columbus pays them a visit. The next two battles play out at Columbus on March 31st and back in Nashville on April 4th. That said, it appears this war favors the Preds and their quest to deny the Jackets their first playoff appearance. It should also be noted that the Preds did indeed have a Grand home stand, sweeping all 5 games over the last week plus.
The Predators next game is this Saturday night at Philadelphia. The only way to watch is via Center Ice. Game time is 6 pm CST. Because I have some marital business to take care of that night, I'll still be doing a recap, but no Other Notes section. Hopefully I'll at least see some of the game, but no promises. This business may end up with a free honeymoon so it's important and I'm sure you will understand. Maybe I can get Paul to do the post-game since it'll be against his childhood love, the Flyers.
Till the next time, keep fighting the fight, and 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!
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