Sunday, November 30, 2008

Predators Fight All Comers, Lose 6-2


Exclusive Video of the "Hat Trick" of Fights in the Second Period

The Nashville Predators were soundly beaten by a solid Minnesota Wild team by a score of 6-2 Saturday night at the Sommet Center. The combination of the Wild’s trap and the complete ineptness of the officiating crew made for a long evening for the Predator faithful. The discussion that follows may sound like sour grapes but I can assure you it is not. Had the Wild not clearly been the better team tonight then it would be sour grapes but my concern is that any paying fan of NHL hockey clearly does not deserve what happened tonight.


Rarely have I seen an officiating crew in any sport botch a game as much as was done in the Preds- Wild contest. Things headed south at 6:41 in the first period when Craig Weller slammed Ryan Suter who was touching up an already signaled icing call which is not supposed to be allowed under the new rules this season. Shea Weber came to Suter’s rescue and in the process received a major and a minor penalty while the offending Weller only received the major. Basically, the Wild ended up on a power play instead of the Preds. To make matters worse, Ryan Suter was subsequently called for unsportsmanlike conduct for using a few choice words (think about the movie Bull Durham) with the officials as he explained how bad they had screwed the call.


The Wild on the ensuing 5 on 3 power play took 15 seconds to score. Thirty five seconds later they made it 2-0 scoring on the 5 on 4 power play. These were the first two of a total of five power play goals by the Wild on the night. In all they were 4 of 8 on the 5 on 4 and 1 of 3 on the 5 on 3 power plays. Coming in to the game the Predators had killed 20 straight penalties so as they say the Hockey Gods got even with them all in one night.


The Predators were whistled for a total of 16 penalties to the Wilds 9. The calls were very inconsistent from start to finish and the officials appeared oblivious to the missed calls on the Wild that were shown on the Jumbotron. The officials were so out of touch that at the end of the Nichol – Veileaux fight they put the Wild player into the Predator penalty box.


As for the game itself, the highlight for Predator fans was the release of pent up emotion that occurred when there were three good fights in a six second period in the second period starting at the 6:50 mark with a skirmish between Scotty Nichol and Stephane Veilleux. Three seconds later was the fight everyone was waiting for between the newly acquired Wade Belak and the big thug Derek Boogaard who only registered the one shift and 3 seconds of ice time on the evening. It’s good work if you can find it I guess. At 6:56 Jordan Tootoo and Craig Weller went at it full out to complete the hat trick of fights. Exclusive video from PredsOnTheGlass (above) captured the fights from the stands for your enjoyment.


After the fights, the Predators pulled within 2 on a really nice goal by Jason Arnott who scored on a nifty feed from J P Dumont. There was really a feeling in the building at that point that the Predators could make a comeback but a goal by Mikko Koivu sent the Preds three down again five minutes later. A David Legwand goal in the third brought the Preds back within two but three unanswered goals by the Wild sealed the deal for the win.


One of my personal highlights for the evening was seeing penalty killing specialist Greg Zanon lay down in front of a slap shot to block it with less than a minute left in a game where the Preds were down by four. Anyone that will play to the final horn that hard after all the team had been through with the Wild and the officials gets a special “Hockey Hero” award from PredsOnTheGlass. One thing you can never say about the Nashville Predators is that the don’t give a good effort even when they aren’t playing or executing well. That is the hallmark of a Barry Trotz coached team and is what keeps the Preds fans coming back for more.


One final thought… For the first time in Nashville since the start of the franchise at the end of the game the fans booed the officials and showered the ice with all types of cups, bottles and other debris. Nashville fans are usually better than that but the gravity of the officiating led to this unusual behavior. We will give the fans a mulligan this time but it’s not something I hope to see again.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday, November 28, 2008

Predators Dispatch the Thrashers, Return Home to Face the Wild


The Nashville Predators beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in overtime at Phillips arena on Friday night. Ryan Suter’s wrister at 1:44 in the overtime period slid past Johan Hedberg for the victory. Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber assisted on the play. It was the first OT assist ever by a Predator goalie and the first in the league this year.

The game was well played on both ends by the Predators. The Preds held three one goal leads scoring first in each period and followed by a Thrasher goal each time, the final one by Ilya Kovalchuk at 10:26 in the third, which set up the overtime period.

There were two very odd goals of note in the game, one for each team. With the Preds ahead late in the first period, Dan Hamhuis tried to pass the puck from behind the Preds net and hit the stick of Todd White and the puck ricocheted into the Preds goal by a stunned Pekka Rinne to tie the game 1-1. Early in the second period, Scoty Nichol blasted a slap shot past Johan Hedberg and it went through the netting in the Thrasher goal and play continued for several seconds. Much to the disgust of the Atlanta crowd when play was stopped, the replay clearly showed the goal going through the netting leaving black marks on the net in its wake.

The other Predator goals were by Dan Hamhuis and Jason Arnott in the first and third periods respectively. Assists on the evening were well spread out. In addition to Rinne and Weber, Hamuhis and Nichol had assists in route to two point nights for each. Fiddler, Smithson and Tootoo also added helpers.

Pekka Rinne got the win as he started for the first time since his debacle in Calgary three weeks ago. He played well enough to win but looked a bit rusty. A few times he had trouble clearing the puck out of the zone, especially on the Thrashers third goal where his misplay lead directly to the score. Rinne stopped 22 of 25 for the game.

The Predator power play remained powerless going 0 of 3 while the penalty kill extended it streak to twenty straight success stories by killing 4 of 4. The Predators first goal by Dan Hamhuis was in a short-handed situation, the Predators fifth of the season.

The Predators again excelled in the faceoff circle winning 38 and losing 27 for a 58% success rate. The newest Predator, Wade Belak skated nine shifts for a total of 6:36 in ice time. He registered two hits and blocked a shot. I would expect that he will hook up with the Wild’s Derek Boogaard for a little two step action tomorrow night in Music City to show the home crowd what he is capable of doing.

Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild is the first half of a two game set with the Wild in what is an oddity in the NHL schedule. The Preds and Wild will hook up again in Nashville next Saturday too. In the meantime the Wild will return home for three games. I can’t say that I have seen that back to back home Saturday action recently.

Jones – Hornqvist Update – David Poile announced yesterday that Ryan Jones and Patrik Honqvist would remain in Milwaukee for Friday and Saturday’s games against Houston. On Friday night in the Admirals 2-1 win against the Areos, Ryan Jones scored the overtime game winning goal to seal the deal. It was his second goal in four games in the AHL. Patrich Hornqvist was –1 with two shots.

Predators Third Jersey ??? – With almost every other NHL team rolling out a new third jersey design including the Blues wearing theirs on our home ice Tuesday night, where is the Predators new sweater? Even in a bad economy I can’t imagine that a bunch wouldn’t find their way under the tree in Middle Tennessee if they were available. So, where are they? Hopefully, they wont be mustard colored when they finally are revealed!

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Nashville Predators beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in overtime at Phillips arena on Friday night. Ryan Suter’s wrister at 1:44 in the overtime period slid past Johan Hedberg for the victory. Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber assisted on the play. It was the first OT assist ever by a Predator goalie and the first in the league this year.


The game was well played on both ends by the Predators. The Preds held three one goal leads scoring first in each period and followed by a Thrasher goal each time, the final one by Ilya Kovalchuk at 10:26 in the third, which set up the overtime period.


There were two very odd goals of note in the game, one for each team. With the Preds ahead late in the first period, Dan Hamhuis tried to pass the puck from behind the Preds net and hit the stick of Todd White and the puck ricocheted into the Preds goal by a stunned Pekka Rinne to tie the game 1-1. Early in the second period, Scoty Nichol blasted a slap shot past Johan Hedberg and it went through the netting in the Thrasher goal and play continued for several seconds. Much to the disgust of the Atlanta crowd when play was stopped, the replay clearly showed the goal going through the netting leaving black marks on the net in its wake.


The other Predator goals were by Dan Hamhuis and Jason Arnott in the first and third periods respectively. Assists on the evening were well spread out. In addition to Rinne and Weber, Hamuhis and Nichol had assists in route to two point nights for each. Fiddler, Smithson and Tootoo also added helpers.


Pekka Rinne got the win as he started for the first time since his debacle in Calgary three weeks ago. He played well enough to win but looked a bit rusty. A few times he had trouble clearing the puck out of the zone, especially on the Thrashers third goal where his misplay lead directly to the score. Rinne stopped 22 of 25 for the game.


The Predator power play remained powerless going 0 of 3 while the penalty kill extended it streak to twenty straight success stories by killing 4 of 4. The Predators first goal by Dan Hamhuis was in a short-handed situation, the Predators fifth of the season.


The Predators again excelled in the faceoff circle winning 38 and losing 27 for a 58% success rate. The newest Predator, Wade Belak skated nine shifts for a total of 6:36 in ice time. He registered two hits and blocked a shot. I would expect that he will hook up with the Wild’s Derek Boogaard for a little two step action tomorrow night in Music City to show the home crowd what he is capable of doing.


Saturday’s game against the Minnesota Wild is the first half of a two game set with the Wild in what is an oddity in the NHL schedule. The Preds and Wild will hook up again in Nashville next Saturday too. In the meantime the Wild will return home for three games. I can’t say that I have seen that back to back home Saturday action recently.


Jones – Hornqvist Update – David Poile announced yesterday that Ryan Jones and Patrik Honqvist would remain in Milwaukee for Friday and Saturday’s games against Houston. On Friday night in the Admirals 2-1 win against the Areos, Ryan Jones scored the overtime game winning goal to seal the deal. It was his second goal in four games in the AHL. Patrich Hornqvist was –1 with two shots.


Predators Third Jersey ??? – With almost every other NHL team rolling out a new third jersey design including the Blues wearing theirs on our home ice Tuesday night, where is the Predators new sweater? Even in a bad economy I can’t imagine that a bunch wouldn’t find their way under the tree in Middle Tennessee if they were available. So, where are they? Hopefully, they wont be mustard colored when they finally are revealed!


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass



Preds Trade Nick Tarnasky To Florida For Veteran Wade Belak



David Poile announced today the trade of recently acquired forward; Nick Tarnasky, for Florida Panther's Wade Belak. Belak has racked up 1,133 penalty minutes in 457 games. Belak's average ice time in the past five games is somewhere around four minutes a game. Belak is supposed to be ready to play in tomorrow night's game against Atlanta. A short lived career here in Nashville for Nick Tarnasky.

Jackson Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Long Battle Ends In Defeat As St. Louis Beats Nashville In a Shootout.

Shea Weber shoots on Chris Mason on the power play in overtime


The return of Chris Mason ends in a loss last night vs. St. Louis. Mason faced a flurry of shots all game long, not letting one go by. That marks his 13th shutout of his career and his first with St. Louis. The Predators played their best all-around game last night, despite the loss. They were awesome on keeping the puck out of their zone and reducing St. Louis’ chances. The offense played an incredible game all night.


The first period consisted of 15 shots and three power plays for Nashville. There were so many opportunities in this period alone. I don’t know how many times I heard the puck hit the post in the first 10 minutes. Chris Mason really pulled this performance out of nowhere. The first period has been a key part of the game for the Preds this season. When they are leading at the end of the first period, they are 6-0-0. A goal in the first is obviously the key to winning games for this team and we just couldn’t find it.


The second period didn’t seem as get up-n-go as the first period had seemed, but the Preds were still obviously in control. St. Louis came back out on the ice and kept up with the Preds the whole period. They got more chances/shot this period than the first. Dan Ellis stopped all 6 shots thrown his way this period (it sounds like an overstatement, but some of the saves were unreal). Chris Mason got lucky a few times this period. At one point, it hit the post and went off to hit Roman Polack, which bounced the puck back into the crease. Luckily for Mason, Polak was right there. With another period down, still, with no score, the Preds kept on trucking.


The third period was amazing. The Preds only allowed St. Louis three shot the whole period. Our defense was on top of them. An onslaught of shots from the Preds continued. Our defense definitely carried our team tonight. Most of our shots and chances were produced by our blue line. It was very impressive. The score remained tied, 0-0, and regulation ended.


The Scoreboard tells the story before the shootout

This overtime period was crazy. We racked up nine shots in five minutes. This all made possible by Barret Jackman, who got called for tripping 43 seconds into the overtime. This began a series of shots that were all stopped by Mason to draw it into a shootout.


The shootout was a huge disappointment. I’m pretty sure everyone was disappointed in Barry Trotz’s choice of shooters. I trust Barry though so I’m not going to get pissed at him. The first shooter in the shootout was David Perron. He deeked out Ellis to get him sprawled and then just knocked it in. The first attempt by Nashville was shot by Rich Peverley. His shot was weak. He’s usually a top contender in shootouts, but this time he just couldn’t produce. The second attempt by St. Louis was shot by Brad Boyes. He did the exact same thing as Perron and sealed the deal. The second attempt by Nashville was shot by Ville Koistinen. I feel that he should’ve waited a bit longer on his shot because Mason was already in the butterfly and he would’ve had a wide open net. Ville, missing this shot, ended the game. Ellis obviously dropped too early on both goals. Despite the loss, we looked great.


Antti Pihlstrom played last night. Trotz only had good things to say about him. “I like Pihlstrom. He skates hard every shift and gets scoring chances. He was aware on the ice and he has great speed. I really liked the line with him, Legwand and Ward.” I think he got a haircut though. That’s a real bummer.


Jackson Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Philstrom Called Up from Milwaukee


As was noted here yesterday, after having a big weekend in Milwaukee, Antti Philstrom has been recalled by the Nashville Predators and will suit up against the St Louis Blues tonight. As the last man cut in training camp he has registered eight goals and four assists. His energy and hustle should be a boost to the Preds as they return home. We were disappointed when he didn't make the team in camp so this should be his time to continue his good play and stay up for a while.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Monday, November 24, 2008

Predators vs Blues NHL 2k9 Simulation

I decided it would be cool to do a simulation of the game tomorrow vs the Blues. The Preds ended up winning 3-1. The only problem; Steve Sullivan scored two of the goals. It had the Blues winning 60% of the face-offs. In the game, it had there being very few shots. This is probably the lamest thing ever. It's all good though.



Jackson Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Predators Right on Track for Playoff Run

In September, after a thorough review of the schedule I looked to a turning point of Thanksgiving week where the Nashville Predators would be done with a stretch where they would have played 13 of the first twenty games on the road. I felt that if they made it to this point over .500 and still close to the top eight in the west that they would be perfectly situated for a run at the playoffs.


The Predators had two big things to overcome in the first twenty games. First, the schedule with an abundance of road games was an obvious issue. Secondly, and what is still a work in progress, integrating a whole slew of youngsters and newcomers into the core team of veterans that were signed in lieu of expensive free agents over the summer.


This morning, the standings revealed that the Predators were sitting in a tie for eight in the west with a 10-9-1 record (including 5-7-1 on the road). Getting to this record has not been pretty at times but has been surprising at others. Friday’s loss at Tampa was the worst game the Preds have played in ages while Sunday’s game at Carolina was the most solid start to finish road game they have played. How do you reason out these two opposites in less than 45 hours time?


If the Predators will play to their capability in the next few weeks with the schedule in their favor they should be right back in the playoff hunt as they have been the last four seasons. The do have more competition within the division with improved Chicago and Columbus teams but the new schedule cuts from 8 to 6 the number of intra division games.


A key as to who gets the last two or three playoff positions will be who has the best record in the out of conference games versus the Eastern Conference. With the increased number of games against unfamiliar opponents, there will be added emphasis on teams that can make quick in game adjustments to deal with the unknown. Remember, you heard that bit of analysis here first.


Sunday’s Big Win - Sunday’s win over Carolina was the most complete road effort that the Preds have had this year. Shea Weber and Jason Arnott both had two goals and many others contributed including a goal by Scotty Nichol and two assists by Marty Erat. The penalty kill was back on track getting a lot of opportunity while killing nine penalties including 2 five on threes totaling 1:56. The power play generated a goal on five opportunities. The Preds out shot the Cains 30-26 and out hit then in a bruising battle 30-28.


Tough Guys? It’s probably not something most folks would report on but the Predators must be hitting folks fairly hard. During Friday night’s game with the Lightning, two players (Gary Roberts and Chris Gratton) were unable to finish the game and Goalie Mike Smith was unable to go on Sunday. In the Carolina game both Patrick Eaves and Tim Gleason were unable to finish the game due to injury. As far as I can tell, all were on regular plays and results of clean hits.


Banished Players Perform Well Both Ryan Jones and Patric Hornqvist performed well on their field trip to Milwaukee this weekend. Hornqvist has had a goal and two assists in two games while Jones has a goal and an assist. They will play again for the Admirals on Wednesday before a recall decision is made. Antti Philstrom also has to be considered for a recall as he scored a pair of goals on Friday and was the last cut in camp before the season.


Trotz Levels More Threats – Coach Barry Trotz publicly called out four players in a threat that they may follow the route of Jones and Hornqvist if they don’t shape up soon. He listed veteran Vern Fiddler, Joel Ward, Rich Peverly and Nick Tarnasky as under-performers. This was on the heals of a berating of David Legwand of not meeting expectations a couple of days earlier.


Vulture Balsille Back in the News – In the ongoing saga for famous team vulture Jim Balsille’s continued attempts to get a slice of the NHL pie, the National Post ran a story on Friday cheering the vultures efforts to purchase the 27% stake tied up in bankruptcy court thanks to neer-do-well Boots DelBiaggio. Something a little different in this article was the fact that if successful, as the Preds second largest shareholder, he would become the alternate member on the NHL Board of Governors, giving him an opportunity to attend meetings and suck up to the other owners in person. Full story is at http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=982129. This guy is never going to go away.


Versus Disruption As a final reminder, Tuesday’s game vs the Blues has a special 6:00 start due to being shown on Versus Network. I’m sure it’s all well and good that the Preds are getting the additional pub but is sure is a burden for the paying fan that works 8:00-5:00 to get to the game on time, especially those like me that live an hour out of town. Luckily, I have a great boss that wants to see my smiling face beamed out to the whole country.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Friday, November 21, 2008

Nashville Predators at Tampa Bay Lightning Live Blog

Welcome to our first ever live blog during the game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning. Jackson and I are on the couch while our good friend and Lighting fan extraordinaire Mark Manning (left) is giving us updates from the St Pete Times Forum.
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Mark is going to check in after the pre-game skate to get us started.
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From Mark at 6:12 -
Ellis in goal Tarnsky looks like he is playing. Warm up went real well. They looked nice. Good speed in warm up.
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Game on - Tampa Bay feed - Thanks to ATDHE.net for the game video.
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Nice video about the Mike Smith - Dan Ellis reunion before the game. Both competed for the Dallas job at Iowa
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Puck drop - Mike Smith is 4-4 and 5 OTL - I guess the key is to get into a shootout.
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17:00 Jackson is already complaining about Greg DeVries - Preds shorthanded
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16:01 Legwand threw the stick - 5 on 3 - he goes further into Trotz's dog house
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15:03 Ellis getting hammered with shots and lets one through - Lecavalier scores
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From Mark -
Tootoo and Malone are yelling at each other on the bench
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Maybe we need a good fight but don't let DeVries get involved
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From Mark -
Ellis didn't have a chance on the rebound. I sit at that end
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Ellis give up another goal - I'm sure Trotz is getting antsy - Bolts 2-0 - - Lecavalier scores again
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From Mark - That was a bad turnover on nash d
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Preds Power Play at 11:28 - need a goal on this one
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Got a post on the PP = otherwise another wasted opportunity as usual
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9:20 Even strength goal 8 seconds after the PP - Tootoo slap shot from the blue line Bolts 2-1 - Tootoo's shot was actually deflected by the Bolt d-man
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From Mark -
Nice shot by 22, We could not tell if was teeth or nose on Marty (Bloody Face)
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7:43 Jokenin scores for the Bolts 3-1 now - looks like a lot of pent up scoring getting let loose for the Bolts - Recchi score
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From Mark -
Last goal on Ellis - if he stayed on his butt it would not have gone in
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They announced the St. Louis injury was a puck to the mouth
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5:17 - Preds PP - Mike Smith holding the stick - I predict another wasted opportunity
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Again the best shot was after the PP - Koistinen is not the man to lead the PP
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1:21 Ward draws a cheap penalty - another PP for the Preds
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End of Period - I really hate split power plays - 39 seconds left at the start of the 2nd period - Tockett seems pleased with 3 goals - Bolts have not done that in many games lately - St Louis getting stitched up - should return
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Preds looked good on paper in the first - not on the scoreboard. Preds out shot 11-10 and won 64% of face offs (14-8)
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From Mark -
Jordan played the best. Marty will be back tonight
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Start of the second - will we see a Lecavalier Hat Trick tonight? 39 seconds left on the Pred PP
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So much for the PP
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18:00 Smith almost got caught behind the net but no Preds in position to take advantage
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17:10 Pred PP again - 4th so far
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Preds had 6 shots on this PP- Legwand hit the post - no goals
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13:28 Bolts score again - Prospal - Ellis was sprawled on the ice 5 feet from the net - basically an empty net goal - puck went between Nichol's skates 4-1
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From Mark -
Nashville is having no luck at all they hit post after post
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11:58 Bolts on the PP - Erat elbowed - the Mexican air line (El Boeing)
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10:03 Recchi hooked - Preds soon on the PP -
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Another waster PP - wife is using fowl language (chicken language)
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From Mark - Just found out I might be going to the all star game, Arnott just doesn't seem right
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Arnott is lucky to be alive after the hit into the net Monday night - he looked dead for about 15 minutes
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From Mark -
There will fight tonight there is a lot of yaping going on between the benches
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18:52 Another Pred PP - Bolt announcers are complaining about the ref but it was almost a bear hug
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End of 2nd period - I see little hope for the Preds to come back
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Note to self: The TV screws up whenever someone uses the microwave. Something to remember...
- nothing like getting your games off the net using the wireless
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Preds won the stats again - fall further behind - Won shots 15-7 and are still 60% on face offs - Tootoo and Smithson are the only +s - everyone else is either even or -1 except for Peverly at -2.
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Start of the third - on Monday vs the Sharks we were down and done after 2 and the Preds didn't quit - they came out fighting - I'm sure Mark would love a Tootoo fight to finish of a big victory for the Bolts
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Another wasted PP
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Krayjick and Malone out for the game with injuries
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From Mark -
I don't no if you can tell on tv, they are playing like this the 2 nd game of a back to back
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12:51 - another Pred PP - 7th PP - nothing to show for it
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Nothing - Preds are missing Rookie Ryan Jones in front of the net - He's playing in Milwaukee tonight - at least he would get shots off rebounds - no one else is doing so tonight
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From Mark - Fiddler got hit with puck were there is not much padding
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9:12 - Peverly called for hooking - should have been a dive on Ranger - he parley touched him -Bolts on the PP
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9:00 - 2nd penalty vs Preds - Hamhuis - delay of game 5 on 3 for the bolts
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7:40 - game stopped to fix the clock
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6:48 - slashing on Zanon - a broken stick
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4:00 This is without question the Preds worst game of the year- officially
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3:16 - Absolutely amazing saves by Ellis - puck was on the line
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From Mark -
On the jumbotron the Lightning mascot is beating up Gnash likeness
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The mascot fight was about like the game it appears
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Game over - Thank Goodness! - I'm sorry Lecavalier didn't get a hat trick - Congrats to Rick Tocchet for his first win - Lecavalier was player of the game - no stars for the Preds - Mike Smith gave away his stick to a fan after stopping 34 of 35 shots
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From Mark -
3 stars 3 vl4 2 Smith 1 Malone
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Preds won shots 35 to 24 and face offs at 56%
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Thanks for checking out our first POTG in game blog and special thanks to Mark Manning for the game updates and insights from Florida.

Buddy Oakes, Jackson Oakes and Special Guest Lighting fan extraordinaire Mark Manning for PredsOnTheGlass

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Predators Send Jones and Holmqvist to Milwaukee

The Nashville Predators sent rookies Ryan Jones and Patric Hornqvist to Milwaukee today where they should see plenty of action in back to back games Friday and Saturday. Both have been recent healthy scratches and should get more opportunity for ice time in the next few days playing in Milwaukee.

In spite of getting schooled on several occasions against the rough and tumble San Jose Sharks, Jones has been a proven contributor in front of the net scoring three goals and adding three assists. Holmqvist has also shown his NHL worthiness with his speed and ability to shoot the puck scoring twice and adding five helpers.

The move leaves the Predators with 2 goalies, 7 defensemen and 12 forwards for a total of 21 active players. I would expect a recall fairly quickly of these two or one of several others that have played well in Milwaukee since there are no extra forwards on the squad traveling to Tampa Bay and Carolina for the short weekend trip. Cal O'Reilly leads the Admirals with 16 points (4g) in 14 games. Antti Philstrom has also performed well with six goals after being the last player cut in camp.

It will be interesting to see how Jones and Holmqvistt respond to their stint in Milwaukee after playing regularly in Nashville for the first six weeks of the season.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Preds Get Physical, Sharks End Pred's 3-0 Streak


Fight Night at the Sommett Center


The Nashville Predators fall to the San Jose Sharks in their first home game in six games. It was a very physical game all night long. Greg de Vries was getting in on some of the action last night. Everyone though he stepped up big that night, but honestly all he did was get his ass kicked. He is my least favorite Predators on this year’s team. Every time the other team scores, I always look to see who was on defense and it always seems to be Greg de Vries out there. The Predators ended up taking too many penalties and it wound up being their demise. The loss of captain Jason Arnott at the end of the first period seemed to make an impact on the rest of the night.


The first period started off pretty physical.By about three minutes into the period, everyone realized this was going to be a very physical game. At about 6:22 into the first, Rich Peverley got a big chance that was unbelievably stopped by Brian Boucher. With 5:58 left, Jordin Tootoo got called for Charging. This call totally got emotions flying in the arena. People were flipping out. This penalty ended up giving the Sharks their first goal. The first chance on the power play was stopped by Ellis with a stupendous save on a wrap around attempt by Devin Setiguchi. 28 Seconds later, Joe Thornton centered a pass for Setiguchi and he nailed one right through the five-hole of Ellis. Seeing as how they got this on the power play of Jordin Tootoo’s controversial penalty, the crowd’s growing hate for the officials elevated. About a minute and a half later, a shot from the blue line was stopped by the body of one of the five players in front of the Nashivlle net. Ellis had no idea where the puck was and Jody Shelley found the puck in it all and put it above Ellis’ left shoulder. This goal was like a blow to the balls. In the last minutes, the Preds went on their first power play of the night. With two seconds remaining in the period, Jason Arnott came flying into the zone and got hit as he tried to stop and he went crashing into the net. He was wheeled off in the stretcher about 10 minutes later. More on this in a following article by Buddy. They just carried over the remaining two seconds into the next period.


The second period was played mostly with the Sharks on the power play. Almost eight minutes in, Tomas Plihal got a break and got one past Ellis. This wasn’t anyone’s fault but Ellis. At this point it was 3-0 Sharks. Again, at 11:12 into the second, Patric Marleau found a loose puck and scraped it by Ellis. This was almost exactly like the second goal; people in front of the net and Ellis had no idea where the puck was. A little bit less than a minute later, Brad Staubitz landed a huge hit on Tootoo, who reacted with a bit of a cheap shot to Staubitz to knock him to the ground. This got Greg de Vries and Jody Shelley wound up so they started going at it. Greg de Vries isn’t really much of a fighter and it really showed in this situation. Sure he got a few good hits, but his inexperience got his ass kicked in the end. Props for getting in there though. The rest of the period was played with tussles after almost every play and hits everywhere. Ryan Jones got leveled on more than one occasion tonight. Veterans vs. 18 year old. The officiating was awful this period.


Again a whole slew of penalties started piling up right from the start of the period, starting with Brad Lukowich (he looks really funny when they have him on the penalty box cam. He sit’s there with this you-just-saw-bambi’s-mom-get-shot-and- hauled-off-look on his face) and Marcel Goc. Some over two minutes later, Scotty Nichol and Joe Thornton got into a fight. Scotty didn’t really even get a hit on Thornton, other than a few scrapes at the shoulder. Thornton took those scrapes and then pummeled Nichol. Nichol pulled him to the ground in a attempt to surrender. Immediately following that fight, Tootoo and Staubitz went at it. Tootoo went hard at the start and fell to the ground and Staubitz got a few good ones there, but he recovered and came back for about give solid punches to the face and Staubitz pulled him down. It was a pretty decent fight. Right off the faceoff following this fight, Jody Shelley and Greg DeVries went at it again. DeVries got off to a bad start and paid for it. Shelley just ripped him up in Round 2. Greg; stick to penalty killing…please…for your sake. Vern Fiddler took a hooking penalty with 12:29 left in regulation. In an attempt to clear the puck, Dan Hamhuis cleared the puck out of their zone and produced a breakaway chance for David Legwand. Legwand skated in all alone, took his shot and put away his rebound. This period, the Predators actually outshot San Jose 16-8. The Preds really showed their persistence tonight, despite the loss. In the end, the Preds played a very physical game, but playing three times in four days seemed to have taken it out of them.


Our penalty kill was decent considering all the penalties we took. 1/7 Was the final count on goals/PP. We went 0/6 on our power play. Another dissapointing game of missed power play chances. We cannot seem to produce goals on the power play. Seriously, let’s get this going sometime this year.


Dan Ellis had a dissapointing night. He gave up four goals on 20 shots. He blocked the other 14 that San Jose accumulated after those first 20. Diagnosis? Exhaustion? Overconfident? Will they play Pekka Rinne on Friday vs Tampa? We’ll see.


That’s all I have to say about last night’s game.


Jackson Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Predators Win over LA, Finish California Swing 3-0

Amidst the backdrop of flaming hillsides in Southern California, the Nashville Predators did their own smoke and mirrors act in getting past the much improved Los Angeles Kings last night at the Staples Center. This brought their record to 3-3 for the season’s longest road trip which would be considered a success after having the team come together to play as a group to rally after starting out 0-3.

The Predators were not outplayed by the Kings but it certainly looked like the Kings had more jump for the first 55 minutes of play. For the game the Kings out shot the Preds 34-22. From the outset the majority of the game was played in the Preds Defensive zone. The 12-5 shot margin appeared to be much worse as another 13 shots were blocked or missed. With the 57 shot barrage by San Jose fresh on their mind the Predators closed ranks to only allow 35 to get to Ellis’s blue ice.

After no goals in the first, the teams traded goals in the second. While not officially on the same line for the second game in a row, J P Dumont found Jason Arnott with an open shot in blue ice at the halfway point of the second. That goal was followed with a Michael Handzus tip off of a Kyle Quincy shot a few minutes later.


The game winning goal came deep in the third on an odd play during a power play when J P Dumont was hit in the arm by a Villie Koistenin slap shot and was writing in pain in front of the net. The rebound was picked up by Arnott and passed to an ailing Dumont who found an empty side of the net to score the winning goal. Although elated with the goal, J P looked as if he were ready for the hospital on the celebratory skate to the bench (X-rays proved no break after the game). The final goal was an empty netter to seal the deal with 48 seconds left on what was supposed to be a centering bass by the King’s Dustin Brown. Shea Weber got credit for the goal as he was the last Pred to touch it.


The game was a fast moving up and back skating affair with few penalties called. For the second night in a row the Predators scored on the power play going 1 for 3. They were also perfect on the PK with the Kings only having three opportunities also. One of the biggest positives for the Predators was again in the face off circle with the Preds having a 26-20 advantage. The scrappy Kings our hit the Preds by a 30-22 margin showing the physical nature of the game.


The Predators did not return home immediately after the game as would be expected. With San Jose looming at the Sommet Center Monday night, the team decided to travel on Sunday to give the players additional rest before the crucial next game. With several players returning from injury and the potential now of J P Dumont being slowed by the arm bruise, the Predators will enjoy the three days between games after the Sharks before they travel to Tampa and Carolina next weekend.


Hopefully, the Predators are on the way to finding themselves as a team and are ready to consistently play the way they are capable. The schedule will become more friendly after American Thanksgiving when they have an abundance of home games where they have consistently played better over the years.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Predators Steal Another One in OT at Anaheim – Game Looms Big vs. the Kings Tonight

For the second consecutive game the Nashville Predators stole a game in overtime against a heavily favored Western Conference opponent. The Preds played one of their more consistent games of the season in route to a 4-3 win on a Dan Hamhuis slap shot 2:17 in to the extra period.


It was a very energetic game from the start with both teams skating well. The Ducks took an early lead at 1:59 on a Brendan Morrison tip giving the Pred Nation that sinking feeling of “here we go again”. Fortunately, Ryan Jones scored on “picking up garbage” play in front of the net on a power play three minutes later.


The Predators took a lead at 11:26 on a nifty backhand by J P Dumont, which was only his third goal of the year. The Ducks tied the game at 15:05 after an incredibly questionable double penalty call at 13:35 giving them a 5 on 3 advantage.


Greg Zanon’s kneeing call was about what you would expect but Jordan Tootoo’s tripping call was a case of bad blood by the official coming on the heels of Tootoo accidentally laying out the official who was out of position and a fight between Brad May and Nick Tarnasky a couple of minutes earlier. I wasn’t clear on exactly what happened but the official who had a serious height and weight advantage grabbed Tootoo (who appeared to be doing nothing – acting?) with both hands by the jersey and shook him a few times. The Ducks announcers even commented that it was a no win for a player when and official came after them like that. Anyway, the follow-up penalty call of tripping looked to be a case were Tootoo was avoiding a hit by Perry and Perry simply tripped over Tootoo’s leg. The Zanon call should have been enough, but the Tootoo call was ridiculous.


Anyway, after making it through 90 seconds of the 5 on 3, Chris Kunitz banged one past Dan Ellis to tie the game. There was no scoring in the second period and the teams traded goals in the third. Joel Ward first deflected a shot by Shea Weber on a power play and then Ryan Getzlaf followed with a PP goal for the Ducks. The game winner was on a slap shot by Dan Hamhus on a feed by Jason Arnott.


Barry Trotz juggled his lines for the game splitting long time line mates Jason Arnott and J P Dumont. For the most part Arnott played with Fiddler and Ward while J P was paired with Jones and Legwand. Both contributed under the new pairings, Dumont with a rare goal and Arnott with an assist on the game winner in OT. Arnott also led the team with 5 shots on the way to 35 shots by each team for the night. It will be interesting to see how they line up tonight.


Normally, you would assume that Barry Trotz would have Pekka Rinne penciled in as keeper tonight but due to the critical nature of ending this trip on a positive note Ellis may get the call again. Ellis was 3-1 against the Kings last year while Rinne hasn’t made it out of the first period on the road this year surrendering seven goals early in two of the Preds road stumbles.


For the Kings, new sensation Erik Ersberg will make his sixth consecutive start after having won 4 in a row. A fifth win as a starter would be the longest streak for the Kings since Felix “The Cat” Potvin had a streak of six way back in 2001.


After a miserable 0-3 start to the teams longest road trip of the year, the Predators OT wins against the Sharks and Ducks loom large in their early season playoff quest. A win in tonight’s game across town against the Kings would be the icing on the cake to the turnaround success in the second half of this trip. The win would be important because the Preds will face an unhappy San Jose team Monday night in a rematch of last weeks 57 shot barrage by the Sharks.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass


Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Predators, Ellis Survive 57 Shot Barrage, Win in OT



In what has to receive the award for the most unexpected game result of the year, Dan Ellis stopped 54 San Jose shots, including 18 shots on the power play, to lead the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 overtime victory at the Shark Tank last night. This was the streaking Sharks first loss on home ice this year. The Predators were blanked by the Sharks 4-0 last year and had not won at H P Pavillion since February 2007. Nobody saw this one coming, especially me.


The Predators were under attack from the opening face off finding themselves with a man in the box four times in the first 10 minutes. The Sharks out shot the Preds 21-6 in the first period, 22-12 in the second period, before the Preds held them to a more manageable 12-8 disadvantage in the third. The Preds finally out shot the Sharks in OT 3-2 including the game winner by Villie Koistinen at the 2:28 mark in OT.


The Predator defense continued its irregular and uneven play turning the puck over repeatedly and allowing numerous odd man rushes and other point blank attempts around Ellis’s goal. Ellis was stellar the entire evening with the exception of Derrin Setiguci’s first period goal that I’m sure Ellis would love to have back. Ellis survived a shot by Ryane Clowe with less than two seconds left to carry the game to OT. He also survived a breakaway attempt early overtime to give the Preds a chance to win.


There were several odd plays in the game including a Shark goal that was waved off early in the game. Jason Arnott’s second period goal was the result of an odd bounce off a Patric Hornqvist dump in play. The oddest play had to be the one leading to Vern Fiddler’s early third period goal. where the puck was airborne and dropped in near the Sharks defensive slot allowing the Preds to tie at 2-2. Ryan Suter added the Preds third goal with 6:27 left in the game matching Setiguchi’s second goal of the night earlier in the third.


Koistinen’s game winning overtime goal came off of a faceoff in the Sharks zone and was a hard one time through traffic from the left point. Rich Peverly and Radek Bonk assisted on the play.


Ellis’s performance was one for the record books. The 53 saves bested his personal best 52 save performance against the Red Wings in game five of last year’s cup match. The Predator regular season record dated back to Predators first ever game against Detroit in their first month of the franchise in October 1998 when Mike Dunham stopped 52 Wing zingers.


After the game Barry Trotz gave all the credit to Dan Ellis for the victory. ''We stole this game,'' Trotz said. ''Danny Ellis stole it, bottom line. He's the reason we won. They were letting us hang around. They kept us on life-support, then we got off the table and scored a goal. I am absolutely thrilled we won a game we shouldn't have.''


The victory gives the Predators a chance to go into Southern California this weekend for a chance to get to .500 on the road trip with a couple of wins which would be a huge boost to the Predators after a miserable start to the trip in Vancouver and Calgary and a tough loss at Colorado.


Sharks Commentary: Brian Boucher was interviewed on the noontime NHL radio show today and gave Dan Ellis his due. He acknowledged that the Sharks realized that Ellis was in his zone early on. He also claimed that it was one of those nights where the Predators were getting all the right bounces.


Sour Grapes: The folks voting on the three stars of the game in San Jose must have been a bit bitter after the loss since they only voted Dan Ellis as the games third star behind two Shark players. NHL.com and ESPN both voted Ellis’s 54 save performance as the league’s first star of the day, even ahead of Jordan Stahl’s third period hat trick on Versus against the Red Wings. Since the Preds play the Sharks at home next Monday I’ll go ahead and name our three stars for that game using similar home town logic.


First Star - Dan Ellis

Second Star - Ville Koistenen

Third Star - Ryan Suter


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Predators Play Great Defense and Lose to Av’s

Will the Real Dan Ellis Please Stand Up

Had it not been for Scotty Nichol’s inability to get his stick in the way of a T J Hensic cross blue ice pass to Darcy Tucker this defensive struggle would have had to go to a shootout be decided. That one miscue was the only unrecovered blight of the game on either defense and the resultant 1-0 Avalance victory over the Nashville Predators.


After Thursday night’s defensive fiasco in Calgary which led to seven goals most of which should have been avoided, Barry Trotz celebrated Halloween a week late on Friday by forcing the Predators to watch the horror film of the highlights of the night before. You knew going into Saturday nights tussle with te Avs that the focus would nbe on defense and puck protection but it was a bit extreme.


Miraculously, the Predators out shot the Avs 26 to 20 but it never seemed that there were that many shots. Depending how you look at it, both teams were perfect on the penalty kill or totally anemic on the power play. The Preds were 0-7 on the PP while the Avs were worse at 0-9 and only managed 10 shots in 12 ½ minutes of man advantage time.


Dan Ellis mush have had an hallucinogenic flashback to the Preds- Wings cup match of last April. This was bay far his most outstanding effort of the year. Helped a couple of times by a friendly post, he only allowed the one goal on 20 Avalanche shots and the one goal should have never happened had Nichol kept his stick on the ice instead of at the ankle level.


It was good to see that our team defense and goal keeping come out of hiding at least for one game. I would suggest that Barry Trotz show the rest of the highlight film from Thursday night where the Preds scored six goals. The best defense in the world does nothing without a few goals to balance things out.


The goal I had set for the Predators of six points in this six game road trip seems fleeting at best with trips to San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles in the coming week. Stranger things have happened in the past so we will continue to push for as many points as we can and then redouble our efforts when we come back to the Sommet Center a week from Monday.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass





Friday, November 7, 2008

Predators Never Say Die in 7-6 Loss at Calgary

Shea Weber added two more goals to his team leading seven against Calgary

“Trailing 7-4 with 15 minutes left this Nashville Predator team looks like they are ready for this game to be over” – radio call from Calgary announcer Peter Maher


What Peter Maher didn’t understand in his call was the “Unsinkable Molly Brown” attitude that the Nashville Predators have had since before the franchise was offered to the city of Nashville 11 years ago. There are few stories in sports franchise history of a team that has had success on the field and within the hearts of its limited fan base than the one of the Nashville Predator’s NHL hockey franchise.


Last night’s 7-6 loss to the Calgary Flames after being down 5-0 and 7-3 is very representative of the history of the Predators in Nashville. When discussion of the viability of a team in Nashville first surfaced when the New Jersey Devils used the city as a negotiation pawn after their 1995 Stanly Cup Championship no one in the hockey world was happy. Throughout the history of the team, attendance has been an uphill struggle, which eventually led to the fiasco of 2007 with Jim Ballsille selling season tickets to the Preds in Hamilton. As we move through this season with empty seats and more litigation courtesy of shyster “Boots” DelBiaggio the Predators continue to move forward on the ice in spite of what most clubs would consider a distraction.


What the hockey world doesn’t fully understand is the heart of this Nashville Predator organization, players and fans. Together we are all hardened by adversity and don’t know the word quit! Peter Maher’s call at the 15 minute mark would have been accurate for 29 other NHL teams but not for the Nashville Predators.


All that being said, the same inconsistent play that has been the hallmark of this version of the Predators once again reared its ugly head. As has been the case repeatedly five of the ten shots faced by starting goalie Pekka Rinne (including the four goals) were situations where Rinne was the only Predator player in sight of the TV cameras. As skilled as this group of young Pred blueliners are, they have been consistent in their inconsistency of turning the puck over and leaving the goalie hung out to dry.


This turnover problem is not an issue that has happened to the current extent in the Predator’s past. One thing that is different this year has been the offensive focus of the defense with the paring of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter being a primary offensive force for the team. The problem is not limited to their time on the ice and has been fairly wide spread. It can always be remedied when you have a human wall as a goaltender but that’s not the hand we’ve been with the youngest goaltender corp in the league.


On spite of the loss and weak defense, there were numerous positives on the offensive side of the coin last night. She Weber added two goals while four others scored one each including a penalty shot goal that finally got Vern Fiddler in the goal column for his first of the year. David Legwand and Marty Erat also had three point games, each with a goal and two helpers. J P Dumont also had a pair of assists bring him to 14 on the year. Pred killer Jerome Iginla had four points (2G, 2A) for the Flames.


Both teams were two of six on the power play which helped galvanize the Predators league worst road penalty kill which is running at a 66% clip on the year. Both of the Predators PP goals came on back to back 5 on 3 situations early in the second period. There were three short handed goals in the game including two by the Preds, albeit one was courtesy of a Vern Fiddler Penalty shot near the end of the game.


In summary, this game is one that is a cinch to be included in NHL Home Ice (XM 204) wild game series. While there is no column on the standing sheet for moral victories, this game will be one that the team can point to as a character builder on their road to maturity. The bottom line remains that is very important that the Predators get six points on this six game franchise longest 16 day road trip. The next opportunity will be Saturday night in Colorado.


Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass


 

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