Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Predators Lose Tough One 1-0 to Flames

The Nashville Predators lost to the Calgary Flames 1-0 when they got involved in a tight defensive battle and came up short at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday night.

The Predators were able to produce zero offense in spite of playing an aggressive forechecking game for most of the contest.

The only goal from either team came from Calgary's Derek Smith, his first in the NHL, at 18:50 in the opening period.

Miikka Kiprusoff recorded his 41st career shutout while stopping all 26 Predator shots. Pekka Rinne was the hard luck loser as he continued to be snake-bit against the Flames as he played well enough to win while stopping 28 of 29 Calgary shots.

The Predators left after the game and headed to Vancouver where they will play the Canucks on Thursday night.

Make the jump for more detail and a few comments from the couch...


Comments From the Couch...


First Period...

Kyle Wilson was the healthy scratch after his recall as Barry Trotz chose to go with the muscle of Brian McGrattan as the twentieth player. Blake Geoffrion and Frankie Bouillon were the other official scratches with injuries.

Pekka Rinne was back defending the Predators net after yielding to Anders Lindback for a game in Edmonton.

At 7:24 Sergei Kostitsyn went down oddly on the boards and left the ice for the dressing room but returned for the next shift.

At 13:53, Mark Giordano left the game after he tried to stop a Matt Halischuk shot from the left side. The Flames were forced to play with five defensemen the rest of the game.

Chris Butler was the second Flames defenseman to leave the ice after a deflected puck caught him in the face at 3:08. Butler returned for regular shifts after the first intermission.

At 18:50, Smith scored his first NHL goal in his 17th game of the year on a redirect on Rinne in the right slot in front of the Predator net.

Blake Comeau put the Predators on the power play at 19:39 when he high-sticked Jordin Tootoo who was bleeding profusely during the post period TV spot.

1st Period       Goals            Shots          Corsi            PIMs         Faceoffs  
Predators        0         9        19       0-0:00 10-9  53%
Flames                1         7        14       1-2:00 9-10  47%

Second Period...

The Predators started the period with 1:41 of carry-over penalty. The Predators were unable to get off a shot on the man advantage.

Marty Erat picked up a questionable boarding penalty on Jay Bouwmeester at 9:10. The Flames picked up a pair of shots but could not convert.

With 7.8 seconds left, Mike Fisher had the best scoring chance of the period for the Preds but Kiprusoff made a huge glove save.

2nd Period       Goals            Shots          Corsi            PIMs         Faceoffs  
Predators        0         6        11       0-0:00 13-8  62%
Flames            0         7        17       2-4:00 8-13  38%

Third Period...

The Preds got a shot at the man-advantage at 2:38 when Roman Horak was called for high-sticking Jon Blum. The Preds failed to get a shot on the resulting power-play.

The Flames went on the man-advantage at 10:36 when Craig Smith was called for tripping Smith but the Predators penalty-kill held firm.

The Flames mad a critical mistake at 14:56 when Blake Comeau was called for hooking Ryan Suter but their defense continued to hold on to blank the Preators.

3rd  Period       Goals            Shots          Corsi            PIMs         Faceoffs  
Predators        0        10        21       1-2:00  9-9  50%
Flames          0          8        22       2-4:00  9-9  50%

Final...

Final     Goals            Shots          Corsi            PIMs         Faceoffs  
Predators        0        26        51       2-4:00 32-26  55%
Flames                1        29        53       3-6:00 26-35  45%

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

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