No matter who won after tonight's shootout, some type of streak would be over. The Preds had their 12 game winning streak at home in games against the Columbus Blue Jackets on the line. Once it reached a shootout, Jackets backup goaltender Mathieu Garon had his 13 game shootout winning record on the line. Leave it to what Columbus fans call the "Evil Empire" to take yet another close win, this time 4-3, over the Blue Jackets. For the 3rd straight time in which these two teams played it went to a shootout, and 14,601 looked on as Steve Sullivan placed the puck past Garon for the game winner.
Felder’s FICKLE Five:
1. Clutch Shootout Performances - Really big goals from Jason Arnott and Sullivan in this one. Of course Sully's is big because it was a game winner, but he also got a monkey off his back with this goal because he hasn't had much shootout success lately. The Captain Arnott however had to score to even keep the game going. His choice of shooting low 5-hole was just the right one. Leave it to the vets to come thru in the pressure situations.
2. Giveaway City - Yet another game in which the Preds giveaway number goes into double digits. It's become commonplace at this point. Tonight, it did cost them the game tying goal as Rick Nash tallied on his 2nd breakaway of the game. The leading giveaway culprits tonight were Erat, Tootoo, and Rinne. Each had 3 giveaways to their name.
3. Depth of Scoring - Anytime you get scoring from places other than the top line it's a big help. Dave Scatchard provided that in his first game back from injury. Erat and Arnott continue to tear it up goal scoring wise, however you have to hope the depth scoring continues since we all know you can't rely only on the top line to put up your points. I thought the Jones, Scatchard, Hornqvist line had some really solid moments tonight and it was nice to see one of them break through on the score sheet.
4. Stopping to Complain - Fans of course let the refs know when they miss a call. However, when the play is still going, the players can't stop to complain about a non-call. Although it didn't appear that anyone truly stopped all together, the Preds were caught looking for a call as Nash took his breakaway for the game tying goal. Barry Trotz even admitted in his post game presser that they were distracted by the non-call. That can't happen and to me, it gave the Jackets a point out of this one.
5. Peppering the Net - As we always say, shots on net are good things. Tonight, the Preds peppered Garon with everything they had. 39 shots on goal all totaled, and six Pred players had 4 SOG or more. Legwand and Arnott tied the team lead with 5 apiece, while Weber, Klein, Erat, and Scatchard had 4 each respectively. Just a nice solid effort all around from those players.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Wade Belak, Cody Franson, and Cal O'Reilly. For the Columbus Blue Jackets, Mike Blunden, Derek MacKenzie, and Mathieu Roy were scratched. Fredrik Modin and Rostislav Klesla remain on the IR.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 8:57 to go. Just as Derek Dorsett returns to the ice from serving his penalty, Kevin Klein finds Dave Scatchard on the back door for a tip in goal. Klein was working the point on Mathieu Garon's glove side. He wound up for a slap shot and then passed it right to the tape of Scatch's stick. Well executed here as Scatch just kept the stick on the ice and let the puck deflect in on Garon's stick side. Scatchard (2) from Klein (4) and Tootoo (7). Preds now take a 1-0 lead.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 1 CBJ: 0 Positives - Nice goal by the depth players. Out shot CBJ 16-13. Negatives - Giving up too many scoring chances and SOG's.
* 2ND PERIOD
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 17:02 to go. Rick Nash creates some havoc behind the Preds net with a strong drive past Dan Hamhuis. The puck squirts out to the front of the crease and Legwand has a split second to clear it but can't. Kris Russell puts it high on net and the puck falls just behind Peks and goes over the line just enough for a goal. Russell (3) from Nash (16) and Kristian Huselius (12). This game is tied at 1.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 15:16 to go. Jason Arnott got dumped in the corner, forcing Ryan Suter to pinch in from the point stick side. Suter then passes to Erat on the back door stick side. Erat's first shot is low and Garon makes the leg pad stop. The rebound is a different story as Marty lifts the puck on his backhand for the easy goal. Marty is on a major hot streak folks. Erat (10) from Suter (12). Preds regain the lead, now 2-1.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for COLUMBUS - 8:40 to go. With just one second remaining on their power play Raffi Torres takes a rebound from Pekka Rinne's feet, goes around behind him, and then banks the puck off the back of Peks. Rinne made a quick turnaround to try and glove it on the red line, but the effort was a moment too late. Kris Russell had the initial shot from the point that Peks gave up a low rebound on. Torres (10) from Russell (7) and Fedor Tyutin (15). We are now tied at 2.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 27.2 seconds remaining. A very odd play where the Jackets get to a puck in time to wave off icing, but then a Weber pass up the ice gets corralled by Jason Arnott at the blueline. The captain timed it just right as he waited to cross the blueline with the puck to avoid offsides. Jason steams ahead towards Garon with no chance of a Blue Jackets defender catching him. As he glides in from the left slot, he goes to the backhand and fools Garon short side and through his glove. Really nice effort and goal from Arnott on this one. Arnott (11) from Weber (10) and Suter (13). Preds take a 3-2 lead into the intermission.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 3 CBJ: 2 Positives - Winning SOG battle 26-22. Top line factoring in to push Preds ahead. Negatives - Lost 53% of faceoffs. Rebound control has caused some problems tonight for Rinne.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for COLUMBUS - 15:42 to go. A broken up pass from Suter to Weber results in a breakaway for Rick Nash. Nash dekes and then wrists it home low stick side on Peks. Huselius broke the pass up at the blueline giving Nash the room to run right towards the goal. The fans were very displeased with the entire shift because Jerred Smithson appeared to be high sticked along the boards. Either way, the end result was unhappy fans because the play was not blown down for a penalty. Nash (16) from Huselius (13). We have a close one here as things are now tied 3-3.
* TO OT WE GO
* TO A SHOOTOUT WE GO - Stats to think about here. Santorelli is in Milwaukee. Garon has an NHL record of 13 straight shootout wins and counting. Doesn't look good for the Preds here folks.
* The Saves - Garon stopped Erat and Legwand. Erat tried the forehand, backhand, then low stick side shot. Garon kept the leg pad down and laid on the puck. Leggy went forehand, backhand, and then tried to lift the puck high stick. For Rinne, he stopped Nash, Voracek, and then Vermette. Nash and Voracek both did nothing fancy and tried a high glove shot. Vermette fired one mid-level stick side but Peks caught it with his chest and then trapped the puck in between his pads when it fell down from the initial save.
* The Goals - For Columbus, Huselius scored with a sweetheart of a move. He basically paused in front of the net getting Peks to drop and then roofed it high stick side. The only other Blue Jackets shootout goal was also a move in which this time Tyutin slowed down as he got to the net. With a forehand fake he got Peks guessing and then scored on the backhand glove side.
For Nashville, it was a game of numerical fun as Trotz threw out 9, 10, 11, and 19 in a row. Almost like he was going down the roster sheet. Goc led it off with a forehand, backhand, high stick side shot that went in. Dare I say shades of Vern Fiddler? With a must score situation, Arnott delivers and keeps the Preds in it by switching up the pace and not shooting high on Garon. The Captain faked a high backhander, got Garon to open up, and then slipped the puck in 5-hole. A clutch goal that had he not scored, the Jackets win. Then, with all the drama on his shoulder Steve Sullivan scored the game winner. His move was a thing of beauty where he pulled the puck far to the glove side, and then switched back to the forehand for a shot that found the small space between the end of Garon's leg pad and the pipes. With that, the Preds have won 13 in a row at home versus the Columbus Blue Jackets and Garon's shootout streak is stopped at 13.
Goalie Grade:B+ – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. Peks had a couple of odd goals against him tonight. 2 of the 3 goals against were plays behind the net that gave him little chance to recover. The Nash goal is just one of those where you can't stop a superstar every time. His shootout performance was solid in my opinion. The only ones he gave up there were very creative goals where a play almost comes to a complete stop and then picks his corner to score. Rinne finished the game with 28 saves on 31 shots against, plus he stopped 3 of the 5 shootout attempts he faced. Another solid night in net that should earn Peks another start this Saturday.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Considering the previous three shooters went high, did you think it may be a good change of pace to test Garon low?"
Jason Arnott - "A little bit. It's kind of what I do in practice a little bit. There's a few things that I do and I kinda just watched him and then focus in on what I was going to do and it just went in."
*
Felder - "What are your thoughts on players in shootouts when they kind of pause, they don't quite stop, but they slow down?"
Pekka Rinne - "It's hard. It's a good move. Obviously I want to make those saves but that's a pretty nifty move. I was expecting a lot of moves from Huselius but he kind of just skated and stopped, he caught me by surprise and he made a good shot. Same thing for their defenseman. He made a ton of moves and got the puck just over my glove."
*
Felder - "That was a pretty nice return for Scatchard."
Barry Trotz - "Yeah it was. I thought Scatch was really good coming back. It was a real great play by Kleiner from the point. He looked liked he was going to shoot and then he had a real hard pass over to Scatch, and he was able to redirect the puck. I thought he was real solid and defensively he was good. Good on draws. Used his big body. I thought the Jones, Scatchard, Hornqivst line was pretty good tonight. They had a lot of pop, drew a couple of penalties, and that's what you want. They went to the net hard. There were a lot of good performances by a lot of guys."
Felder - "What were your thoughts on the Columbus shooters who kind of slowed down as they got closer to the net? It's not something I've seen very often."
Trotz - "The shootouts have become a real art. The younger players coming into the league have been a lot more creative. There's tendencies is the goaltenders and tendencies in the shooters and they are being real creative. One of the things that some of the shooters will do is they will come in real hard, they have the goaltender backing up, and then put the brakes on and throw the flow off a little bit. That's a technique that you're seeing more and more of."
Final Thoughts:
An up and down battle in this one but you almost have to expect that in games against Columbus at this point. These teams seem to find ways to make their games interesting each time out. I felt the Preds forced the play for most of the game, and were it not for some defensive errors and giveaways, they should have won this in regulation. That said, the Jackets took the fight back to Nashville and capitalized on the errors like good teams should. Both teams earned their points tonight.
The Predators next game is this Saturday night against yet another Central Division foe. This time it will be the Red Wings of Detroit visiting. Normal 7 pm faceoff. You won't want to miss a rivalry game like this one. It will be the 2nd of only 3 visits by Detroit to Nashville this season. See you at the rink on Saturday.
Till then, take care.
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