Coach Barry Trotz post game comments
Jason Arnott, Marcel Goc and Pekka Rinne speak
Coach Terry Murray, Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty comment
The Nashville Predators extended their win streak over the Los Angeles Kings to six games with a 4-2 win at the Bridgestone Arena on Thursday Night.
Marcel Goc got had the game winning goal at 2:30 in the third period to secure the win. J. P. Dumont, Jason Arnott and Jerred Smithson also added goals for the Predators. Marty Erat had primary assists on Arnott's and Goc's goals.
Alexander Frolov and Drew Doughty scored goals for the Kings, who had been the hottest team in the league heading into the Olympic break.
Pekka Rinne stopped 20 of 22 Kings shots in route to the win. U.S. Olympian Jonathan Quick took the loss allowing 3 goals on 31 shots. The final goal of the game was an empty netter by Jerred Smithson.
The game got off to a rough start by the Predators who gave up a goal to Frolov 54 seconds into the game. The goal was aided by a bounce of the officials skate that kept the puck in play.
The Predators responded quickly at 4:34 when Quick was out of position and allowed the Dumont goal on another odd bounce.
Jason Arnott added a power play goal in the second on a beautiful feed from Marty Erat that gave Arnott a backdoor play as the Kings were more focused on Patric Hornqvist who appeared to be the one receiving the pass.
Marcel Goc gave the Preds a much needed cushion early in the third on another perfect pass from Marty Erat. Drew Doughty responded four minutes later to bring the margin back to a one goal game. Smithson's empty netter with less than a minute left sealed the win for the Preds.
Storylines From The Game
The Bounces Went The Pred's Way Early...
Both coaches pointed to the Preds first goal by J. P. Dumont as a turning point in the game. Steve Sullivan shot the puck and Quick went behind the net and the puck took an odd bounce into the side of the slot to a surprised J. P. Dumont who was able to shoot at an almost empty net.
Jonathon Quick said that the puck "took a tough bounce," which was putting it mildly.
Kings Coach Terry Murray said it was the difference maker in the game, "From that point, we did not regain our composure to play the game the proper way. It just became easy for them."
Barry Trotz described the turn around, "You are down 1-0 half a minute into the game, and it was quiet on the bench. Obviously the Dumont goal gave us some life and we played better the rest of the game." Further, he said, "Sometimes you get a bounce off the boards and that's what you need to do."
Predators recent Dominance Over the Kings...
There is no specific reason to describe the Preds recent dominance over the Kings. Preds Coach Barry Trotz explained, "L.A. was 11-1-1, and they had been the hottest team in the National Hockey League. They play a very structured game, and they are very well coached."
When questioned about the streak Trotz said, "I didn't really know that to be honest with you. I just kind of play in the moment. I do remember that a one time they had beat us 11 straight so that 's the way it is."
Predators Improved From Tuesdays Performance...
The Predators showed significant improvement from Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. After getting out shot 10-7 in the first period, the Preds poured it on in the second out shooting the Kings 15-7. Trotz commented, "I thought in the second period, we really had a lot going on."
The Predator defense really seemed to intensify their game during the second period and shut down a very strong Los Angeles offense. "I was happy with the defense," Trotz said. "When you talk about the defense, it's not only the defense core, it 's five guys and the goalie."
For the game, the Preds out shot the Kings 32-22 and had a wider spread in the Corsi numbers at 59-35.
Barry Trotz indicated most teams were rusty in their first game after the break, "I watched a few games around the league last night and you could really tell the difference between teams that already had one game under their belt versus the teams playing their first game. You are going to see the games get ramped up as you go along her (for the rest of the season)."
Up Next...
The Predators left after the game and flew to Detroit where they will play the Red Wings on Friday night. The game will provide a four point swing since Detroit is 5 points behind the Preds in the Western Conference race. The Preds will return for a home game on Sunday against Vancouver before leaving on a four game road trip.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment