Columbus thought they had done it. For the first time in a long time it looked as though they would win in Nashville. Mid-way through the 2nd period, with the Jackets up 3-1, many, including myself, thought they had done it. The Predators, however, were not done. Storming back with a three goal stretch the Preds retook the lead 4-3 halfway into the 3rd period. Columbus tied it up and took things all the way to a shootout where the unlikely hero Ville Koistinen potted the only shootout goal of the night for a 5-4 win in front of 16,750 at the Sommet Center.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. The Captain Brings the Scoring - He was definitely getting the rust off in the 1st period, but Jason Arnott brought it from the 2nd period on. 2 goals to tie the game and motivate this team back into things. Arnott was coming back from a concussion injury, and earlier than planned. After the game he told the press that he saw the energy level was low after last night's loss, so he was going to try and create an extra boost by playing tonight. Mission accomplished for the Nashville captain. I give Arny credit. As you'll see in my QUOTES section, he was not entirely comfortable coming back early, but he made it count.
2. Ville Koistinen - Yes, VK has broken into my Fantastic Five. I certainly had my doubts when Hornqvist was scratched in favor of VK, but the Trotz move paid off. Although he started the game at wing, later in the game Greg de Vries was benched by Trotz and VK moved back to the D. Trotz saved up VK for the last shooter and cashed in on yet another gamble. That said, VK playing was the right move and those of us questioning it are silent for a few days. Koistinen finished the game with the shootout goal, a +1, had 3 shots on goal, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot.
3. Defensive Clamps - After the 1st period, the Preds defense gave very little room to Columbus the rest of the way. Only allowing 2 shots on goal in an entire period is very impressive. Take away the 1st period, and Columbus only had 11 shots on goal in the 2nd, 3rd, and OT periods combined. Yes, the Jackets tallied on 2 of those 11, but all in all the Preds D wasn't giving them much to work with.
4. Throwing the Body - How about this stat? 39 hits. Smithson, Nichol, and Tootoo each had 6 hits to their credit. Hamhuis and Zanon added four more apiece. I really believe the physical nature of the game kept the Jackets on their heels a bit and played into the defensive efforts.
5. Taking the Puck Away - Here is another really good hidden stat that I loved. 22 takeaways for Nashville. That's a strong forechecking game right there my friends. Vern Fiddler with 4 takeaways, Arnott, Ward, and Dumont with 3 of their own respectively. Just a solid effort to steal the puck away and it paid off.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Wade Belak, Martin Erat, Patric Hornqvist, Ryan Jones, David Legwand, Antti Pihlstrom, and Mike Santorelli.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 13:56 to go. A rebound off of Rinne goes to the glove side. Peks is out of position after stopping 2 scoring chances before that. Rick Nash finds the puck and lifts it just enough over a Pred stick and into the net. Just the start Columbus wanted as they draw first blood. Some strong pressure from Columbus had the Preds D scrambling and as a result none of the rebounds were cleared out. Hejda took a shot from the point that deflected off Kevin Klein and went to Malhotra for a backhand. That backhand shot is what led to the juicy rebound. Nash from Manny Malhotra and Jan Hejda. The Jackets take the 1-0 lead here in Nashville.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 10:54 to go. After a faceoff win from Arnott, Ryan Suter makes a quick pass to Weber at the point. Shea Weber lets off his cannon from the point. The shot travels low to the ice, Webs broke his stick on the shot, and deflects off of Michael Peca's stick in and under Steve Mason. The Beast finds the back of the net again. Weber from Ryan Suter and Jason Arnott. Preds tie the game at 1.
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 10:23 to go. The Jackets bits right back. Jiri Novotny gets a shot on Peks, but Rinne can't control the rebound. His save actually goes off his stick right back to Novotny who quickly tallies high on the open net. A nice response from Columbus who is showing why they are a playoff team with the timely goal. Novotny from Jakub Voracek. The Jackets push their advantage back to a goal, now leading 2-1.
* 7:36 to go. The Preds score on a high stick and the power play goal is waved off. Shea Weber with a clear shot from his stick above the cross bar level. The fans certainly don't like it but the call is the right one.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD –CBJ: 2 NSH: 1. Positives - Weber did sneak one through. Won 64% of the faceoffs. Negatives - Out shot 12-8. Peks giving up those rebounds again and looks slightly fatigued. Too many giveaways that period with a total of 7.
* 2ND PERIOD
* POWER PLAY GOAL for COLUMBUS - 14:14 to go. The death march starts now as Rinne gets scored on the stick side after a back door feed from Jason Williams finds the stick of Nash for the easy put away. The building is certainly quiet now as they watch their playoff hopes disappear. This may be the nail in the coffin of the Preds season when we look back on it. Nash from Williams and Malhotra. Columbus has stormed out to a 3-1 lead and have the edge to win this war now.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 8:46 to go. Jason Arnott works hard in the crease and finds a way to backhand the puck in. The puck had flipped off Mason into the air and dropped at Arnott's skates. Arny backhanded the puck towards Mason, Steve made the leg pad save, but the rebound went off Marc Methot's skate and into the net. Bad bounce for Columbus there but it may be the goal to wake the Preds up. Arnott from J.P. Dumont and Greg Zanon. Preds are now only down 3-2.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for NASHVILLE - 3:44 to go. VK goes in to the zone and lays off a pass to the other point for Dan Hamhuis to let go of a slap shot. Hammer puts one through traffic, but the puck is knocked down and put right at Arnott's stick with Mason out high from the crease. The Predator captain fires off a quick shot at the exposed glove side of Mason's net and tallies to tie the game. Just when you count them out (as I did after the Jackets 3rd goal) they roar right back to prove you wrong. Now if they take the lead, the roof may come off. Arnott from Radek Bonk and Hamhuis. This battle is tied at 3 all.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – CBJ: 3 NSH: 3. Positives - Jason Arnott showed up to play that period, bringing his team back from the brink of death. A goal while on the man advantage is certainly a momentum starter. The defense that period was outstanding, only allowing 2 shots on goal by Columbus (although one did go in). Negatives - Just the failed PK.
* 3RD PERIOD
* 13:21 to go. After a series of solid shifts from the Preds, the fans show their appreciation and try to will a puck in. This TV timeout is filled with all of the fans in the Sommet Center standing, cheering, yelling, and trying to rally their Preds to take the elusive lead over Columbus.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 9:48 to go. The reawakening of Mr. CLUTCH! Jerred Smithson fights off a defender and makes a no look pass to Radek Bonk on the top of the crease. Bonky quickly shovels the puck in low glove side on an unsuspecting Steve Mason to push the Preds to the lead. Credit goes to Jordin Tootoo as well for taking on two Jackets in the corner and maintaing puck control to make the pass to Smithers. The building is fired up now as the Preds have reeled off 3 unanswered goals to make a surprise comeback in this brotherly war. Bonk from Smithson and Tootoo. Preds have a 4-3 lead over Columbus.
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 4:17 to go. The Jackets are not out of it just yet. Finally a response as a back door feed sees Jason Williams wait out Peks for just a second, which was long enough to open the high stick side that he scored on. A very nice feed from the far post from Antoine Vermette was just blistered through the crease to get to the open Jason Williams. The Jackets are going to make the Preds earn this one in the end. Williams from Vermette and Raffi Torres. This final battle between Columbus and Nashville is tied at 4.
* 1:48 to go. Radek Bonk gets high sticked by Fedor Tyutin. Initially there was no call, but then the play stopped with Bonk on the ice in pain. As the replay is shown on the megatron, the ref calls a penalty on the play. Not sure I've seen that one. Not only did he call the minor, but he called the double minor since Bonky was bleeding. The Preds now have every opportunity to win the game with 4 minutes of man advantage.
* TO OT WE GO - Nashville will have 2:12 of 4 on 3 to start the overtime period.
* 4:36 to go in OT and 1:48 to go on the Preds man advantage. Columbus calls a timeout after Steve Mason makes a stellar glove save on Ryan Suter who broke in untouched down the right slot. Before OT ended, Jason Arnott missed a back door open net chance so Columbus has caught a break.
* 3:46 to go in OT and :58 to go on the Preds extended man advantage. This time Nashville calls the timeout to get things set. They have used Arnott, Sullivan, Suter, and Weber this entire OT thus far.
* 2: 48 to go and the Preds man advantage expires. A missed opportunity for sure.
* 40 seconds to go and Dan Hamhuis breaks out the hip check for the big moments. Hammer upended a Blue Jacket along the boards just past the Pred bench and squashed what was looking like an odd man 3 on 2 rush.
* TO A SHOOTOUT WE GO - Columbus was 5-6 in shootouts up to this game, and Nashville was 4-5 in their shootouts. Someone is going to pull up to .500 on their shootout record tonight.
* Rinne stops all 3 (although the attempt from Nash almost scored) and Mason gets beat just once, by one Ville Koistinen with a forehand to backhand move that pushed the puck up and over high stick side for the win.
FINAL SCORE – CBJ - 4 NSH - 5
My Three Stars:
1. Jason Arnott - 2 goals, 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, 3 takeaways, and won 13 of 26 in the faceoff dot.
2. Radek Bonk - 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 3 shots on goal, 2 hits, and won 6 of 17 faceoffs.
3. Rick Nash - 2 goals, and 6 shots on goal.
Goalie Grade:B- – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. Some rebound goals and back door feeds. Those are hard to stop and it was an up and down night for the young Finnish goaltender. Peks admitted after the game that he struggled, in part because of the lack of Columbus shots on goal. 19 saves on 23 shots against and he stopped all 3 Blue Jackets shooters in the shootout session.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Down 3-1 in the 2nd, the defense really clamped down, and was not allowing any time and space for Columbus. Did you guys really have a sense of, 'all right, this is it, life or death'?"
Greg Zanon - "Well you know we were trying to do that right from the get go and they got a couple of lucky bounces I think, putting pucks in the net. We are playing for our lives right now, playing for playoffs, so we just manned up, did the best we could do, and it panned out for us."
***
Felder - "Peks, Columbus has said the scouting report on you is to shoot at your feet. Did you feel like they were gunning for you there tonight?"
Pekka Rinne - "I don't know, maybe. It was really a hard game personally. Not too many shots, and I didn't really get into the flow of the game. But when guys score four goals it's frustrating to let in four goals. Looking back it doesn't matter how you win but it wasn't my best game but it was also a really hard game because pucks were bouncing and they got some lucky breaks."
***
Felder - "When you decided to play this morning, were you almost a little bit uncomfortable with your decision to come back a little early from a concussion injury?"
Jason Arnott - "Yeah, I was very uncomfortable. It really went through my mind this afternoon, I really didn't get a whole lot of sleep this afternoon. To come back from a concussion is tough. You definitely don't want to put yourself in a situation where you are out for the rest of the year, most of the summer, and maybe even next year. But we are at the situation now where we lost last night, the guys were tired, and I just made the decision to come back and try to give them a little bit of a boost."
***
Felder - "Down 3-1 in the 2nd, and the defense just really clamps down, allowing less than a handful of shots on goal. Do you feel like your team really felt that it was life or death at that point?"
Barry Trotz - "I think it was our push and we had to get back in there and stay on it. We were real positive on the bench. It was a team defense but it was everybody. It was a hard forecheck, five guys working in unison. As a coach when you get everybody doing their job it's like music to your ears. It was just a real good group effort."
Final Thoughts:
Every time. Every single time I think they are done they shut me back up. That's fine with me and I'm sure it is fine with you Pred fans. Look at my comments after the 3rd Columbus goal. I thought it was over, for sure. No way this goal starved team nets 3 more goals. Never say no way with these guys because you just end up eating crow. On the brink of elimination? No matter. Down 2 goals with your playoff life on the line? Who cares. This team truly has a will to come back in any given situation. Every time.
The Preds will end the night in 8th place with 86 points. They are tied in points with St. Louis but own the tie breaker on wins. With the Anaheim win at San Jose they are now at 88 points, two ahead of 8th and 9th place, and just one point behind the Blue Jackets in 6th. Also, Mike Santorelli was sent back down after the games conclusion. Also, on a personal note, I was pleased to find out that Dan Ellis fielded a few calls on Wednesday regarding his "move" to forward. So if you bit on that story, no worries, many others did as well.
The Predators next must win game is this Tuesday night vs the Chicago Blackhawks. Of course things never get easier for the Preds and the Hawks seemed to have the Preds number Friday night. We'll see how much of an impact Arnott continues to have on this team and its scoring then. Chicago plays at Columbus tomorrow. Game time for Tuesday is 7 pm CST. It will be the last regular season pre-game show from Rippy's, and my last Around the NHL segment. Don't miss it.
Till the next time when the roller coaster rides again,
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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