The Nashville Predators are just trying to stay afloat. The Chicago Blackhawks were looking to secure a playoff spot and continue the fight for home ice advantage for the playoffs. Despite the regular season success against Chicago this season, tonight the Preds could only manage 1 goal from their injury riddled forward lines once again. The Hawks showed they can play the playoff style game and win with a 3-1 victory at the United Center.
Cal O'Reilly continues to impress, but again he was the only goal scorer for Nashville in this contest. Peks played well, but didn't get the goal support. I wasn't upset with the game, I expected what I saw. The injuries have caught up to the team and they are playing as they should, rather than above their heads like last weekend.
Would I have liked more than 7 shots in the 1st and 3rd periods? Sure I would.
Would I have preferred more shots on net with the one power play they had? Yes.
That said, the Preds played a disciplined game and put forth a solid effort. Had they just been the first to score 2 goals they may have stolen one. Alas, the scoring wasn't there again and the Hawks had enough to push past the Preds.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Jason Arnott, Wade Belak, Martin Erat, Ryan Jones, David Legwand, Antti Pihlstrom, and Mike Santorelli.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for CHICAGO - 14:38 to go. Samuel Pahlsson gets a backhand to travel up and off Rinne into the net high glove side. Steve Sullivan couldn't get control of the puck at the blueline. Andrew Ladd takes the puck instead and dishes off the Pahlsson on the inside top edge of the faceoff circle to Peks left. Zanon had Pahlsson covered but he lifted his backhand shot up and put it in. Pahlsson from Ladd. Blackhawks take the early 1-0 lead.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 9:13 to go. Sullivan feeds Ward in the circle to Khabibulin's glove side. Wardo fires the puck on net, the rebound sits at the Bulin Wall's feet and O'Reilly backhands the puck in for the garbage and game tying goal. O'Reilly continues to make an impact on this club. O'Reilly from Ward and Sullivan. Tied 1-1 at the United Center.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 1 CHI: 1. Positives - Out hit the Hawks 8-6. Won 12 of 20 faceoffs. A nice rebound goal for Cal. Negatives - Out shots 9-7 and the Hawks had 8 scoring chances compared to the Preds 5.
* 2ND PERIOD
* GOAL for CHICAGO - 7:34 to go. The Hawks captain Jonathan Toews gets a feed in close on Peks glove side and makes a gorgeous goal lifting the puck high stick side but under Rinne's arm from a tight angle. Martin Havlat drew some attention behind the net and found Toews driving towards Peks with a stride ahead of Vern Fiddler. Dan Hamhuis had been sucked to the boards by Patrick Kane and Chicago took advantage. Toews from Havlat and Kane. Chicago has a 2-1 lead.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 1 CHI: 2. Positives - Still a close game thanks to Peks as usual. Winning the faceoff battle just 20 to 19 and hits 18-14. Negatives - Out shot 24-19 so far in the game. Some defensive slips have cost the Preds the lead.
* 3RD PERIOD
* Chicago has put the pressure on most of the game while the Preds have mounted the odd threat every now and then. I would clearly say that the Hawks have more talent at forward tonight, but the Preds are battling through injuries.
* Marty Havlat ends it with the empty netter while drawing a penalty. Havlat from Toews. Hawks go up 3-1.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 1 CHI - 3
My Three Stars:
1. Jonathan Toews - 1 game winning goal, 1 assist, +2, 3 shots on goal, 1 hit, and won 50% of his faceoffs.
2. Martin Havlat - 1 empty net goal, 1 assist, +2, 2 shots on goal, and 1 hit.
3. Nikolai Khabibulin - 25 saves on 26 shots.
Goalie Grade:B – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. I thought the first goal against was a bit soft. The 2nd was just a pure sniper shot from in close from Toews. Another solid effort from Rinne wasted due to lack of scoring, but the Preds are just hanging on to survive.
Final Thoughts:
Is it slipping away? Yeah, I'd say so. The fact is, the Preds have too many injuries to deal with. Let's take an honest look around the teams who are fighting with Nashville to get in. Columbus makes it in my opinion. St. Louis is likely to get 7th since their remaining schedule features at Dallas, at Phoenix, home vs Columbus, and they end the season two days after the Preds do with a game at Colorado. Barring massive choking, they are in with at least 3 wins in their final 4 games and 91 points. Now, we look at Anaheim. Yes, they have a home and home with San Jose starting tomorrow night. Then their last 2 games are home vs Dallas and at Phoenix. If Anaheim just gets one game off of San Jose, they should win their final two and push their point total up to 92 points. That leaves us with Nashville. 84 points, home vs Columbus tomorrow, vs Chicago, then finishing the season on a back to back at Detroit and at Minnesota. Nashville would have to win all 4 to get to 92. Only 3 wins gets you 90. This means ZERO margin for error from here out. Sorry to say folks, I think its Anaheim in 7th and St. Louis in 8th with the Preds finishing just one spot away from the playoffs this year.
Look, they've made a good run at it. This past weekend gave everyone hope and shocked the doubters including me. The Erat injury was too much though. The entire blame can't be placed anywhere, but not adding depth at the deadline in case of injury is looking like the major cause.
I know I've made it sound as though it's over. It of course is not until the last game is played. This team has shocked me and proven me wrong before so there is no reason to not stay positive. For me, it's facing reality. That said, I can never rule these guys out because every time I have they've proven me wrong. They'll get one last chance to do it again.
The Predators next must win game is tomorrow night. A final battle with little brother to see who wins this seasons war. The game time is at 7 pm CST. Should be a good tilt considering how much is on the line for Nashville.
Till then, take care friends, and enjoy these last 2 home games.
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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