Predators Remain Unbeaten in Regulation and Friday Findings

The Nashville Predators remain the NHL's only team to be undefeated in regulation but there was no joy in the dressing room about that claim last night.

The bottom line is that the Preds are playing .500 hockey after three straight overtime home losses. Pittsburgh was the best team that the Predators have faced and the Preds skated toe to toe with them for over 63 minutes and wanted two points, not one.

Many folks point to injuries as a reason for the losses, but no one on the team or coaching staff would find that as an acceptable excuse. Going in to the season, the team was aware that it would be an effort of at least 30 different players over the course of the year.

The primary issue last night was that the Penguins had more left in the tank at the end of the game than the Predators did. Also, the Preds were not crisp with their passes and execution for most of the game and that led to numerous turnovers and takeaways by the Pens.

Pekka Rinne was not as sharp as he had been in his return on Tuesday. He was very disappointed with the loss after the contest.

Not to be totally negative, because the game was one of the most exciting games, from a fan's perspective, as you could have. Attendance has been out standing for October in football country.

The Preds have played to 94.8% capacity with two sellouts and only 4408 tickets unsold through five games. Last night's crowd was as loud and enthusiastic as it has ever been for a regular season game.

The Predators will need to come together and close ranks as a team as they head out on the road. Over the next 32 days they will play twice at home and eleven times in enemy territory. Over the years, road trips this time of year have been where where the team has found its identity and had success.

A good bit groundwork has been laid to this point but it's time for the team to move forward and prove that the Predators are one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.

Preds-Pens Round-Up...

Here is our game story with coach and player video from last night.

Josh Cooper had his game story and and postgame ponderings. Bryan Mullen discusses Sidney Crosby in his notes column.

Jim Diamond touches on a better effort with the same result.

David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.

From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Brandon Felder, Mark Willoughby, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, Paul McCann, Fang Finger Fever, AJ at PMFF, and Hockey Night in Nashville.

The other side of the story comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Tribune Review, and Pensburgh.

In Pred Nation...

Biggest news of the day yesterday was the leaked story out of Russia that Alexander Radulov has resigned with the KHL. Dirk Hoag has the story.

The OHL announced their participants in the Subway Super Series that will play a Russian squad next month in Canada. Predator prospects that were named include Ryan Ellis, Taylor Beck, and Michael Latta.

Josh Cooper looks at whether Wade Belak being in the lineup on Tuesday would have prevented some of the beat-down taken by the Preds' defensemen. He also has Marcel Goc's take on the hit that separated his shoulder.

Josh was a guest on the Illegal Curve Radio show on Wed night. Here is the podcast version.

Dirk Hoag has the latest fantasy update for Predator players.

Shea Weber makes Chris Botta's list of the NHL's seven best defensemen.

Media coverage of the Preds in the MSM is picking up. WZTV is starting a new weekly series on Smashville. This week's episode features Cal O'Reilly delivering food to the Room at the Inn.

Blake Geoffrion is off to a slow start in Milwaukee but is learning the pro game as fast as he can.

Around the NHL...

Ryan Porth has part 2 of his interview with Agent Jay Grossman. The discussion gets around to Alexander Radulov in this half.

After taking a closer look at the Eric Cole hit on Drew Doughty, it is still hard to tell how he was injured. What stands out is how late the hit was after the puck left.

Rick Rypien's disciplinary hearing should be this morning. Ryan Porth looks a a wide range of opinion as to what should be done by the league.

Matt Reitz looks at the top twelve rookies from June's entry draft and what they have done so far this season.

David Singleton demands that Gary Bettman take control of the league at Hockey Independent.

Scott Cullen looks at points per minute production. There is an interesting mix of players here early in the season.

Hell must have frozen over in Edmonton where they are looking for cheerleaders in a Canadian hockey market.

Odds and Ends...

Here's a post on making speeches more interesting. Passion appears to be the key.

Here is an interesting application that turns your smartphone into a FM radio.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Penguins Slip Past Predators 4-3 in Overtime

Coach Barry Trotz

Pekka Rinne, Colin WIlson, Kevin Klein, David Legwand, and Shane O'Brien Speak

The Nashville Predators remained unbeaten in regulation but suffered their third overtime loss in a row on Thursday night in front of a sellout Bridgestone Arena crowd.

The Pittsburgh Penguins handed the Preds a 4-3 loss 3:49 into overtime when Kris Letang slipped a shot past Pekka Rinne to grab the victory in a hard-fought game. Sidney Crosby showed why he is the best player in the world as he scored two goals and assisted on Letang's game winner.

The Predators had the lead three different times and the Penguins came back to tie on each occasion. David Legwand scored 53 seconds into the game when Joel Ward won a battle on the boards with Sidney Crosby and got the puck free to Jordin Tootoo who threw a pass to Legwand on the opposite side of the net. The 1-0 lead held up for the remainder of the first period.

Pittsburgh started quickly in the second period when Evgeni Malkin scored 54 seconds into play to tie the game 1-1. Nashville responded with a power play goal from Cody Franson at 8:03.

The Pens came back with Crosby's first goal five minutes later and the second period ended 2-2. The goal was a masterpiece as Crosby shot the puck at Rinne's pads to deflect it into the net from the red line.

Rinne commented, "He's a smart player and I was cheating for the pass and he saw that and banked it off my leg and he outsmarted me."

In the third, at 5:08, on a rush, Colin Wilson dropped a pass to Patric Hornqvist who fired a shot that hit the post and went in on a beautiful play. Pittsburgh tied it at 12:58 when Malkin fired a shot on the net that rebounded directly to Crosby on the opposite side who was able to beat Rinne for the score.

As play wound down, both teams had scoring chances but did not convert. In overtime, the Preds almost sealed the win when J P Dumont hit the crossbar and the puck fell behind goalie Marc-Andre Fleury and was headed for the line when ex-Pred Andrew Hutchinson knocked the puck clear.

Letang's game winner was a disappointment for the crowd of 17,113 who had witnessed one of the best regular season games between inter-conference teams in franchise history.

As usual, Rinne took responsibility for his share of the loss on the game winner, "I got a little bit screened. Obviously you wish you see those shots but this time it got through me and I didn't see it until the last second and it was too late."

The game was marred by an ugly incident at 8:28 in the second period when Malkin left his feet and slammed Jordin Tootoo into the boards that resulted in a no call. The normally docile Kevin Klein responded and tried to engage Malkin who wanted no part of the call to fight.

Klein ended up fighting Deryk Engelland and both were sent to the box. Incredibly, Klein was called for roughing while Malkin was not penalized, giving the Pens a man advantage. After the game, Klein refused to comment on the Malkin hit because he did not want to be fined.

Colin Wilson discussed the let down during the third period, "They came out and were going really hard in the third.We keep having great starts but we have to finish up the game."

Coach Barry Trotz was very respectful of the Penguins elite players, "We don't get to see Sydney Crosby and Malkin very often and when we do up close and personal, they are pretty dynamic."

Even though the teams rarely play, there was an unusual amount of intensity for an inter-conference game. Trotz theorized on the animosity, "Usually it is a little subtler. You'd think we were in the same division. I think probably Ray Shero had then hyped up a little bit because Ray is very popular with their team and they wanted to get him a win in Nashville. They came with a lot of juice. They have great leadership and they drove the team tonight."

On three straight home overtime losses Trotz explained, "If we get one or two points in every game all year, it would be great. We've played some good teams and got points out of them but at the same time we would rather be on the two side. At the same time, a point is better than a loss."

The hockey fan in Trotz came out as he described the game, "From a fan thing, there was a little bit of everything. It was a pretty good game. From an entertainment standpoint you had everything from some of the best players in the world playing, you had some physical hits, you had emotions running high, you had breakaways, and all those thing that make sport great."

The crowd should have received one of the three stars for showing up in force on a week night and giving it their all. Shane O'Brien acknowledged the effort, "I've only been here for a couple of weeks but I would put theses fans up against anywhere in the league for excitement and noise, and you could tell they wanted it."

He continued, "They know what's going on. People say it's a small market, but they know more here than people give them credit. They are loud, they are great, and it's fun to play in this building."

The Predators will leave on Friday for back to back road games in Dallas and Tampa on Saturday and Sunday.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Battered Predators Face Penguins and Thursday Thoughts

The injury plagued Nashville Predators put their five-game point streak on the line tonight at 7 p.m. against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators have already lost 17 man games to injury and that total will continue to mount with Ryan Suter out for at least three games, Marcel Goc out for 2-4 weeks, and Matthew Lombardi out indefinitely.

After missing three games, Pekka Rinne returned on Tuesday with a stellar performance in a 1-0 overtime loss to Calgary. Marty Erat also returned against the Flames for his first game of the season.

The Predators are currently carrying six defensemen and 13 forwards. If no recalls are made today, Alexander Sulzer will see his first game action of the season, filling in for Suter. It would appear that Wade Bekak will be the odd man out this evening.

The Preds will face the Sidney Crosby led Pens who struggled out of the gate but have now won three in a row and boast a 4-3-0 record. Marc-Andre Fleury, who is 0-3 on the season, is reported to be ready to start in net.

The Pens are led in scoring by Crosby who has four goals and four assists. The other leaders are more surprising, Mark Letestu (4g, 3a), Alex Goligoski (3g, 4a), and Paul Martin (1g, 6 a).

The Predators' special teams have struggled in the last two overtime losses with the power play going o-11 and the penalty kill falling to 28th in the league at 68.8% (5 goals on 16 kills). The Pens are ninth in the league at 20% (8 of 40) on the man advantage and are 18th at 81.5% on the PK (5 goals in 27 kills).

Tonight's game is the Hockey Fights Cancer game for the Predators. Click here for a complete rundown of all the related activities. Pittsburgh native, Sarah Marince, will sing the national anthem tonight.

Other previews of tonight's game come from Chris Burton and Amanda DiPaolo. The Pittsburgh side of the pregame story can be found at the Post-Gazette.

In Pred Nation...

Bryan Mullen had the initial report on Ryan Suter's injury and trip to the IR. The goal is for him to make it back for the Blues game on the 28th. He also writes about the Preds playing without Suter for a few games.

The Predators made several moves yesterday including sending Jamie Lundmark to Milwaukee, Ryan Suter to the IR, and signing Steve Begin and placing him ob waivers so he can go to Milwaukee.

Ryan Kennedy features Anders Lindback in his rookie report at The Hockey News.

Chris Burton has the weekly power rating round-up at On The Forecheck.

There is a group of female Preds fans under the name of Hockey-Tonk Angels planning a meet-up for tonight's game. Check it out here.

Hands of Cement throws out a few suggestions for a new Predators goal song. I agree that it is time for a change.

Amanda at Predlines looks at the Predators' need to fix the penalty kill.

Charles-Oliver Roussel was named to the QMJHL team for the annual Super Series next month in Canada. He also played in the tournament last season.

Bill Meltzer feels that Pekka Rinne is the NHL's most underrated goalie. Pred fans would agree.

The best story from while I was gone was Jim Diamond's post about Pekka Rinne's sweater going up on the space shuttle. That is really a big deal for Pekka, the NHL, and the country of Finland.

Around the NHL...

Ryan Porth has a great interview with agent Jay Grossman who was in town visiting Pekka Rinne over the weekend. This is part one with part two to follow later today. In this part, Jay discusses the Kovalchuk negotiations from over the summer. Later today, we'll hear about Alexander Radulov and the KHL.

Here is the video from Rick Rypien's incident with a Minnesota fan from Tuesday night. He has been suspended and will have a hearing in the next day or so. Michelle Kenneth looks at a few other episodes of NHL player-fan interaction. Puck Daddy has a transcript of an interview with the "brother" of the fan.

Chris Johnson at CP has the running list of NHL suspensions this season.

The Kings won their game with Carolina last night but lost Drew Doughty to an upper body injury and he will not play tonight at Phoenix.

The first player rankings from TSN are out. Who would have thought Tim Thomas would be leading in the year's first release. Steve Sullivan is the highest ranked Predator.

Going the other way, Puck Daddy has 10 players that haven't scored this year so far.

Chris Botta has this week's installment in his blogger series at Fanhouse with Jon Jordan telling all about the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Andy Strickland ponders Bill Guerin's expected retirement. It is surprising that no one could use him again this season.

Kingscast looks at the Evil Genius of Brian Burke at View from My Seats.

In a new series of featured articles from NHL XM Home Ice personalities, Terry Mercury discusses the Leaf's early success.

Mike Thompson has a review of the Nationwide Arena in Columbus. It appears that they now have a band that playes during the game also.

Allan Maki has a sad story of ex-NHLers who played in the last 25 years that are on the verge of being destitute.

Adrian Dater has the story of the Steve Moore lawsuit continuing to drag on for years.

Intent to Blow gives Steve Begin an early nomination for a "Douchie Award." Sean Avery and Chris Pronger are concerned that they will have to step up to compete again this season.

Odds and Ends...

When we were in California, we came across this 620 mile, seven day, bike ride from San Francisco to San Diego to raise funds for challenged athletes. The most interesting participant that we saw was a double amputee who had a modified vehicle where he was able to "pedal" with his hands.

Google appears to be struggling to do social media. This article discusses how Social networking may be foreign to a more engineer based company.

Kelly Slater may participate in the Big Wave World Tour event at Mavericks this winter.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Game Recap: Preds Salvage Road Trip With 4-3 Win Over Pens

The Nashville Predators salvaged their lackluster road trip with a huge 4-3 shoot out win over the defending Stanley Cup Champions Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Martin Erat had a goal during regulation and the game clincher in the shoot out to lead the Predators to the victory. Shea Weber and Jordin Tootoo also had goals for the Predators. Cal O'Reilly had the official game winner in the shoot out.

Dan Ellis was the hero in net for the Preds stopping 30 of 33 Penguin shots, many while under intense pressure from the Pen's star studded offense.

The Penguin's goals came from Sidney Crosby, Matt Cooke, and Brooks Orpik. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 of 26 Predator shots.

Game Narrative...

The first period started with both teams skating hard, focusing on defense and controlling their own defensive zones. Dan Ellis was sharp, stopping several Pen's scoring chances.

The first penalty of the contest came at when Ryan Jones was called for high sticking Kris Letang at 14:21. Twenty-two seconds later Sidney Crosby fired a slap shot past Dan Ellis for is 42nd goal of the year to put the Pens ahead 1-0.

The opening period ended with the Pens putting a line of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal on the ice to try to pick up a second goal in the last 25 seconds of the period.

The first period was clearly dominated by the Penguins as they out shot the Preds 11-4 and also lead in the Corsi numbers 20-9. Without a complete turnaround by the Preds it looked like that they would go quietly into the Olympic break with another loss.

The second period started with the Predators on the power play which came from a double minor against Malkin for roughing and a single roughing call against Hamhuis.

The Preds came out on the power play and 34 seconds in to the period Marty Erat blew a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the game 1-1.

Pittsburgh grabbed the lead back at 2:09 when Stall drove to the nest on a delayed penalty and pushed it at Ellis who made the initial stop. Matt Cooke was left unguarded on the opposite side of the net and slipped the puck into the net to regain the 2-1 lead for the Pens.

Twelve seconds later, Jordin Tootoo sent a shot unexpectedly from Fleury's left that found its way into the net to re-tie the game at 2-2.

The Preds went back on the man advantage at 4:23 when Chris Kunitz roughed up Erat after the whistle and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Preds were unable to take advantage of the man advantage.

At 12:13, the Predators went back on the power play when Crosby slashed Colin Wilson as Wilson was on a breakaway down the ice. With 1:08 left on the initial penalty, Staal was called for tripping to put the Preds on the five on three power play. The Preds were abysmal as they didn't get a shot on goal for the duration of the two penalties.

After roughly a minute of six on five hockey on a delayed penalty, play stopped at 16:40 as Francis Bouillon was officially called for interference. The Pens got a couple of shots but could not convert.

The Predators played better and improved their shot count during the second period but were still dominated by the Pens for extended parts of the middle stanza. The Preds out shot the Pens 15-8 and led in the Corsi numbers 26-15.

The Penguins came out strong in the third period and scored when Brooks Orpik let a slap shot fly from the blue line off a face off at 4:.51 that Ellis misplayed off his blocker that resulted in a goal to put the Pens ahead 3-2.

The Preds went on the power play with an opportunity to tie the game at 6:26 after a Pascal Dupuis holding penalty. With three seconds left in the penalty, Suter was called for roughing Malkin to put the Pens on the man advantage. The Preds escaped the Pens power play unscathed.

The Preds made a comeback at 12:17 when Shea Weber was left alone at the blue line above the slot and unloaded a bomb at the net that got past Fleury to tie the game 3-3.

With 5:10 left in the game the Predators returned to the man advantage when Brooks Orpik was called for high sticking on Joel Ward. The Preds did little on the man advantage.

With 1:55 left, Malkin took Weber down behind the Pen's net and was called for interference. The Preds never got a shot on net and appeared happy to at least gain the loser point.

The Pens and Preds each had seven shots in the final period while the Pens led in the Corsi 17-13.

At 1:16 into the overtime, Kevin Klein was called for holding as he grabbed Staal as he broke toward the Preds goal. The Pens managed two shots and appeared to focus on the perfect shot more than putting the puck on net.

In spite of the Pens out shooting the Preds 7-0 in overtime, the game remained tied and headed for a shoot out where the Pens were 7-0 on shootouts for the season.

The Preds shot second and Cal O'Reilly put the Preds up 1-0 after Kris Letang missed on his first shot. Sidney Crosby missed his attempt on the shoot out for only the second time this year. Marty Erat came out and put the puck past Fleury to win the shootout 2-0 and make the final score in the game 4-3.

Storylines from the Game

Dan Ellis Creates Goaltending Controversy...

In spite of a miscue that allowed the Pens third goal early in the third period, Dan Ellis was perfect for the rest of regulation, in overtime and in the shoot out.

Combined with a strong game on Wednesday when the Preds beat the Rangers, Ellis clearly out played Pekka Rinne during the four game road trip.

Barry Trotz and David Poile will have a lot to consider over the two week Olympic break and as the trade deadline approaches on March 3. Ellis was the odds on favorite not to return but I'm sure it is not as clear at this point.

Preds Win a Game While Being Outplayed...

The hockey gods finally smiled on the Predators again. Pittsburgh appeared to be the superior team for the better part of the game. Even when the Preds were able to surge duing the second period, the Pens looked to still have another gear waiting for play at the end.

By the end of the game, the Preds were the more motivated team and were able to hold off the Pens in overtime and also hand them their first shoot out loss of the season.

Thoughts Turn to the Olympic Tournament...

Six Predators and five Penguins left the game and headed straight to Vancouver to prepare to play for their for their respective teams. Rumors were that Shea Weber was invited to fly on Sidney Crosby's chartered jet as a fellow member of Team Canada. After Weber's bomb blew past fellow Team Canada Goalie Fleury, you have to wonder if the offer of a ride was still available.

Up Next...

For all but the six Olympians, the team will scatter in different directions for the next ten days. Colin Wilson will probably head back to Milwaukee to continue to play regularly. Nolan Yonkman was reassigned before the game. Cody Franson will also make a pit stop in Milwaukee when he recovers from injury. It is doubtful that Cal O'Reilly will be able to play during the break due to the waiver rules.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass