The Predators took care of business last night disposing of the Oilers in a 3-1 match that was pleasantly uneventful for the 15,745 fans in attendance. It was a time to exhale and watch the team play without the tension of going down to the last second in a nail biter like so many recent games.
One play that appears nowhere on the scorecard that could have been awesome came in the final minutes with Edmonton having the goalie pulled. Pekka Rinne had the puck with a little room in front of the net and he tried to loft it over the Oiler defense toward the empty net at the far end of the ice.
Rinne was laughing as he explained the play, "I tried to go for it. Unfortunately, it hit the guys arm. I thought that I had pretty good wood on it but we will see. Maybe next time."
In the postgame, Barry Trotz said that he was thinking, "Get it over that guy and I hope you score kid." He said further, "He's been so good, that we gave him that privilege."
It just goes to show that in the midst of a heated Western Conference playoff race the team and the coach can find time to have a little fun on the ice and appreciate what each other have accomplished so far in this long 82 game season.
Predators-Oilers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with post game video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond has a story about a new hand signal used by referee Stephane Auger near the end of last night's game. He also has his game story.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton, Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Fang Finger Fever, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
From oil country comes the game stories from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
Audio clips from the Predators come from Marty Erat, David Legwand, Patric Hornqvist, and Pekka Rinne. From Edmonton comes clips from Coach Tom Renney, Renney part 2, Devan Dubnyk, and Linus Omark.
Programming Note...
Today on RLD Hockey Radio, Ryan Porth has lined up a pair of quality guests. First up will be Kevin Allen from USA Today to touch on the Matt Cooke suspension and playoff races. He will be followed by Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period to discuss the tight Western Conference race. Join us for what promises to be a fun show at noon Central.
In Pred Nation...
Pekka Rinne is up to number 5 overall and second for goalies in the TSN player rankings.
Ryan Porth says the cure for the Predators injury bug is the play of the Preds' youngsters.
Josh Cooper has an update on Marcel Goc who may never play another game for the Preds since he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Tyler Davis looks at the contributions of the Predators' youthful players at NHL Hot Stove.
Here's an odd way to have a retirement announcement from @hnicradio: Wade Belak from the Predators confirms to @jeffmarek and @bjaffe on @hnicradio that he has retired. Loves Nashville & working for team
Jeremy Gover from Section 303 led the drive to collect hats to honor Blake Geoffrion.
Milwaukee beat Oklahoma City 4-3 in a shoot out last night at the Bradley Center.
For those who missed the Lifetime "Coming Home" show that featured the "goalie" at the Preds' game, here is the full episode on the internet.
Hockey on the Fly...
Last Night, Ryan Porth and I had the opportunity to meet Andre Delsol who is about a third of the way through visiting all 30 NHL Arenas in 29 days. You can follow his travels at his Hockey on the Fly site or on Twitter at @hockeyonthefly.
He is getting a good view of the whole league during the playoff race and Ryan and I were jealous. We'll hear more from Andre when the trip is over as he has agreed to join us on RLD Hockey Radio for an episode. We are looking forward to that.
Around the NHL...
Matt Cooke is claiming to be reformed. Hopefully he will remember what that means a month from now or next season.
RLD Hockey has the latest version of The Stretch Run. He also has the records since the All-Star break which is interesting.
Due to his new gig at Versus, Steve Lapore is scaling back at Puck The Media. Here is his first post at Versus where he looks at the spotlight on Matt Cooke's hit on national TV.
Ed Duhatschek analyzes whether visor use should be mandatory in light of the Manny Malhotra injury.
Bad news for the Kings as Justin Williams is out for the season with a dislocated shoulder.
The Goalie Guild has the latest update to their NHL Goalie Depth Charts which is an incredible undertaking. It ranks every goalkeeper in all 30 organizations.
From @AnaheimDucks: #NHLDucks goalie Jonas Hiller traveling with team on upcoming 3 game road trip. Hiller: "I'm feeling better every day." More to come later. Ducks will be here on Thursday night. Bet on seeing Dan Ellis or Ray Emery.
Rebekah Sanders takes a closer look at what the revised Matthew Hulsizer plan actually means to the City of Glendale and Why the Goldwater Institute is still opposing it.
HBO's 24/7 series that followed the Pens and Caps before and during the Winter Classic garnered three Emmy nominations.
The QMJHL announced the nominees for the post season awards and the most curious one is Kirill Kabanov's nomination for the Humanitarian Award. He is a great talent that has had numerous issues in his junior career so I don't get how that makes him a humanitarian. I's like to hear more.
Odds and Ends...
Happy Blog Birthday to our friend Dahlia Kurtz who's Always Write! site is one year old. She is an incredibly talented writer based in Toronto who covers a wide variety of topics.
For those wanting to jump on a tablet, the new larger Samsung Galaxy Tabs have been announced.
Here is something interesting from the New York Times. A higher grade home movie of Babe Ruth on a barnstorming tour in October 1927 has been found.
How valuable is Linkedin to finding a new job. This post says it is a must. It may be the most under-appreciated platform of all the social media tools.
Here's video proof of Bruce Springsteen teaming up with the Dropkick Murphys for a trio of songs.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Showing posts with label nashville predators edmonton oilers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nashville predators edmonton oilers. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Predators Grab Two Points from the Oilers
The Nashville Predators faced an embattled Edmonton Oilers team on Tuesday night at the Bridgestone Arena and came away with a workmanlike 3-1 win.
It was a game that the Preds could not afford to lose against the last place team in the NHL in order to keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. The Predators had only collected three points against the Oilers in three prior meetings so the outcome was not certain.
Barry Trotz noted, "Getting the first goal was a relief because we have had trouble with the Edmonton Oilers this year. We've had trouble with the Province of Alberta this year."
The Predators got goals from Marty Erat, Patric Hornqvist, and David Legwand while the Oilers only goal came from Jordan Eberle.
After taking Sunday off, Pekka Rinne was as sharp as ever in net. He only faced twenty shots and allowed a single goal. When asked about the day off Rinne said, "It was nice, probably mentally, not so much physically just to have a couple of days off, just relax, and watch Anders Lindback play.
Patric Hornqvist described the game well saying, "Maybe it wasn't the best game we played, but we'll take the two points and go forward here."
The Predators got off to a quick start with two goals early in the opening period. Erat got on the board first at 4:08 on a tic-tac-toe play from David Legwand and Joel Ward that went the across the crease twice before Erat buried it in the net.
Then at 7:40, after a Kurtis Foster tripping call, Hornqvist took a drop pass from Sergei Kostitsyn and nailed a power play goal from the left side of the net to put the Preds up 2-0.
The Preds out shot the Oilers 15-5 in the first period and led the Corsi 22-10 in play that was completely dominated by Nashville.
At 7:00 in the second period, a mini-scrum that broke out between Hornqvist and Chris Vandevelde near the benches at center ice. Because of the distraction, the Preds took advantage of the odd man situation around the Oiler net as Ryan Suter fed the puck to Legwand who backhanded the puck into the net from the right side of the slot.
Edmonton came back at 9:38 with a goal of their own from Eberle on the power play when he picked up a rebound off of a Andrew Colangelo shot and flipped it past Rinne to close the gap to 3-1.
The Oilers had a much better second period and kept the puck in the Predators end to a much greater extent. they out shot the Preds 7-5 and controlled the Corsi 18-10.
The third period was a bit better for the Predators as they out shot Edmonton 10-8 but the Oilers were aggressive as they led the Corsi 24-12.
The highlight of the third period was a huge save by Rinne on a shot by Tom Gilbert with 2:44 remaining in the game that led to another classic Nashville TV time out ovation.
The Predators ended the evening with 88 points which is good for sixth place in the Western Conference and the same number of points as fifth place Los Angeles who has a game in hand. The Preds are two points up on Chicago and three point ahead of Anaheim, Dallas, and Calgary.
The Predators' homestand continues with a game against Anaheim on Thursday, Dallas on Saturday, and Vancouver next Tuesday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Predators Begin Vital Week with Edmonton and Tuesday Tidbits
The Nashville Predators (38-25-10) return home to Bridgestone Arena tonight to face Edmonton (23-39-10) in hopes of pulling even with the Oil in the season series.
The two teams have met three times this season with Edmonton holding a 2-1 advantage. On Jan 23, the Preds won 3-2 in a shoot out in Edmonton. On February 7, the Oilers embarrassed the Preds with a 4-0 shut out in Nashville. Most recently, on March 1, the Preds were shocked by the Oilers on the road in a 2-1 loss in the game where Blake Geoffrion scored his first NHL goal.
Hopefully the Predators will look at their past problems with Edmonton and treat this game as one of the more critical games of the season and avoid the trap game appearance that this contest has on paper. It would be easy to overlook the Oilers after the twin wins over Detroit and Buffalo over the weekend and Anaheim and Dallas coming to town later this week.
Pekka Rinne (27-20-8, 2.09, .930) will be well rested and ready to start the remaining games of the season if need be. He started 20 straight games before yielding to Anders Lindback on Sunday. Rinne is starting to receive good press about his Hart and Vezina chances now that he has closed the gap on Tim Thomas's (29-10-8, 2.08, .937) stellar statistics.
Thw Oilers enter the game on a six game losing streak and have won only twice since their last meeting with the Predators. They clearly have nothing to lose except the first pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in June which goes to the thirtieth ranked team in the league.
Ex-Pred Ryan Jones told the Edmonton Sun “It’s always fun to pee in someone’s sandbox. It’s great to go in and take points from teams that really need them." Hopefully that quote will find it's way to Nashville's dressing room wall.
It is unclear who will be in goal for the Oilers as they have been randomly swapping Nikolai Khabibulin (10-28-3, 3.32, .892) and Devan Dubnik (10-11-7, 2.83, .913) in recent games.
There are tickets still available and Coach Barry Trotz and the Predators have come to depend on their "seventh man" to provide energy in recent home games.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Hockey Night in Nashville, The Predatorial, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, Patten Fuqua and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Ryan Porth found this site where Andre Delsol is doing 30 NHL cities in 29 days and tonight is Nashville's pit stop. If you see him, give him a good dose of Southern hospitality.
Josh Cooper discusses Blake Geoffrion's knack for scoring close to the net.
David Boclair analyzes the Predators' defense and ponders whether Shane O'Brien will return next season.
Jim Diamond looks at a pair of Predator prospects that are gearing up for the NCAA tourney that starts this weekend.
Here is an astounding statistic from Scott Cullen of TSN. Blake Geoffrion is now leading the NHL in goals per 60 minutes of play.
AJ at Pull My Fang Finger has a great perspective piece on Sunday's thrilling Predator win.
In an email to season ticket holders the Predators announce that Pete Weber and Terry Crisp would return for their 14th season of play by play action next year.
The Nashville Business Journal are running a Brand competition and in the first round the Predators and Bridgestone Arena are in a contest with the Titans and LP Field for most popular local team and venue. Go here to vote for the Preds and here to vote for the arena.
Robby at Hockey Night in Nashville looks at what a big week this is for the Predators.
Paul McCann steals one of Barry Trotz's favorite words to talk about the Preds' resiliency.
Chris Botta at the New York Times gives kudos to Blake Geoffrion and gets on the Pekka for Hart bandwagon.
Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.
Voting is open for the top ten Preds plays of the year. Go here to cast a ballot.
Joe Yerdon awarded Anders Lindback Sunday's save of the night for his stop on Thomas Vanek.
Scott Burnside has more kudos for Blake Geoffrion at ESPN.
Bangin Panger has a jersey foul that is hard to imagine. It is a Predator road jersey with the Rangers Statue of Liberty on the front.
Around the NHL...
There were only two games in the NHL last night and both were three point contests. Pittsburgh went to Detroit and won 5-4 in a shootout in the early game and the Kings beat Calgary 2-1 also in a shootout.
The hammer dropped on Matt Cooke yesterday and Pens GM Ray Shero backed the suspension. Mario Lemieux has yet to comment.
ESPN had a list of all 20 suspensions from this season for hits to the head.
The Goldwater Institute was not impressed by Matthew Hulsizer's $75 million guarantee and responded with this press release that basically said the offer from Hulsizer made no sense and that the city was still exposed to massive future costs. Here is the Arizona Republic's take on the matter.
The NHL Three Stars of the Week were announced 1- Joe Pavelski, 2- Ray Emery, and 3-P.K. Subban. Was this a snub to Blake Geoffrion who's stats were as good as Subban's?
Ken Campbell looks at the hoops young Canadian players have to jump through to play in the USHL to prepare to go to a US college.
Just when Alexander Ovechkin started heating up, he is being given time off for "rest" to heal an undisclosed injury for 7 to 10 days.
Great news from @adater: Congrats to @stevelepore for being hired by Versus.com as hockey reporter
Sidney Crosby appears to be getting closer to a return as he skated again on Monday.
Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts is as newsy as always this week. It is a must read every week.
In a bit of a shocker, the Ottawa Senators signed Craig Anderson to a four year contract as part of their rebuild project. So it looks like either Colorado or Ottawa will be wrong on this one. Adrian Dater gives his knowledgeable opinion on the matter.
The Vancouver Canucks announced that Manny Malhotra will not return this season due to the horrible eye injury that he received from a deflected puck off of a stick last Wednesday.
Watch out for the Kings. Mayor's Manor has the story of two prospects who won the WHL and OHL scoring titles.
It's not too early to RSVP to the #NHL TweetUp for opening night of the playoffs at Foley's in Manhattan sponsored by The Program.
The Kraft Hockeyville competition is always a neat story where the NHL comes to a small town. Here are this year's final five.
An interesting blog that you may want to check out is A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife. It is an eclectic mix of stuff that is a unique perspective.
Odds and Ends...
I've mad so many negative comments about "Pac Man" Jones over the years, I thought I would give equal time to a positive story from Yahoo that paints a picture of a reformed man. Read it and see if you believe it.
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the Tennessean has a quiz to test your knowledge.
The New York Times looks at how Google is transforming into a huge media company.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The two teams have met three times this season with Edmonton holding a 2-1 advantage. On Jan 23, the Preds won 3-2 in a shoot out in Edmonton. On February 7, the Oilers embarrassed the Preds with a 4-0 shut out in Nashville. Most recently, on March 1, the Preds were shocked by the Oilers on the road in a 2-1 loss in the game where Blake Geoffrion scored his first NHL goal.
Hopefully the Predators will look at their past problems with Edmonton and treat this game as one of the more critical games of the season and avoid the trap game appearance that this contest has on paper. It would be easy to overlook the Oilers after the twin wins over Detroit and Buffalo over the weekend and Anaheim and Dallas coming to town later this week.
Pekka Rinne (27-20-8, 2.09, .930) will be well rested and ready to start the remaining games of the season if need be. He started 20 straight games before yielding to Anders Lindback on Sunday. Rinne is starting to receive good press about his Hart and Vezina chances now that he has closed the gap on Tim Thomas's (29-10-8, 2.08, .937) stellar statistics.
Thw Oilers enter the game on a six game losing streak and have won only twice since their last meeting with the Predators. They clearly have nothing to lose except the first pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in June which goes to the thirtieth ranked team in the league.
Ex-Pred Ryan Jones told the Edmonton Sun “It’s always fun to pee in someone’s sandbox. It’s great to go in and take points from teams that really need them." Hopefully that quote will find it's way to Nashville's dressing room wall.
It is unclear who will be in goal for the Oilers as they have been randomly swapping Nikolai Khabibulin (10-28-3, 3.32, .892) and Devan Dubnik (10-11-7, 2.83, .913) in recent games.
There are tickets still available and Coach Barry Trotz and the Predators have come to depend on their "seventh man" to provide energy in recent home games.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Hockey Night in Nashville, The Predatorial, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, Patten Fuqua and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Ryan Porth found this site where Andre Delsol is doing 30 NHL cities in 29 days and tonight is Nashville's pit stop. If you see him, give him a good dose of Southern hospitality.
Josh Cooper discusses Blake Geoffrion's knack for scoring close to the net.
David Boclair analyzes the Predators' defense and ponders whether Shane O'Brien will return next season.
Jim Diamond looks at a pair of Predator prospects that are gearing up for the NCAA tourney that starts this weekend.
Here is an astounding statistic from Scott Cullen of TSN. Blake Geoffrion is now leading the NHL in goals per 60 minutes of play.
AJ at Pull My Fang Finger has a great perspective piece on Sunday's thrilling Predator win.
In an email to season ticket holders the Predators announce that Pete Weber and Terry Crisp would return for their 14th season of play by play action next year.
The Nashville Business Journal are running a Brand competition and in the first round the Predators and Bridgestone Arena are in a contest with the Titans and LP Field for most popular local team and venue. Go here to vote for the Preds and here to vote for the arena.
Robby at Hockey Night in Nashville looks at what a big week this is for the Predators.
Paul McCann steals one of Barry Trotz's favorite words to talk about the Preds' resiliency.
Chris Botta at the New York Times gives kudos to Blake Geoffrion and gets on the Pekka for Hart bandwagon.
Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.
Voting is open for the top ten Preds plays of the year. Go here to cast a ballot.
Joe Yerdon awarded Anders Lindback Sunday's save of the night for his stop on Thomas Vanek.
Scott Burnside has more kudos for Blake Geoffrion at ESPN.
Bangin Panger has a jersey foul that is hard to imagine. It is a Predator road jersey with the Rangers Statue of Liberty on the front.
Around the NHL...
There were only two games in the NHL last night and both were three point contests. Pittsburgh went to Detroit and won 5-4 in a shootout in the early game and the Kings beat Calgary 2-1 also in a shootout.
The hammer dropped on Matt Cooke yesterday and Pens GM Ray Shero backed the suspension. Mario Lemieux has yet to comment.
ESPN had a list of all 20 suspensions from this season for hits to the head.
The Goldwater Institute was not impressed by Matthew Hulsizer's $75 million guarantee and responded with this press release that basically said the offer from Hulsizer made no sense and that the city was still exposed to massive future costs. Here is the Arizona Republic's take on the matter.
The NHL Three Stars of the Week were announced 1- Joe Pavelski, 2- Ray Emery, and 3-P.K. Subban. Was this a snub to Blake Geoffrion who's stats were as good as Subban's?
Ken Campbell looks at the hoops young Canadian players have to jump through to play in the USHL to prepare to go to a US college.
Just when Alexander Ovechkin started heating up, he is being given time off for "rest" to heal an undisclosed injury for 7 to 10 days.
Great news from @adater: Congrats to @stevelepore for being hired by Versus.com as hockey reporter
Sidney Crosby appears to be getting closer to a return as he skated again on Monday.
Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts is as newsy as always this week. It is a must read every week.
In a bit of a shocker, the Ottawa Senators signed Craig Anderson to a four year contract as part of their rebuild project. So it looks like either Colorado or Ottawa will be wrong on this one. Adrian Dater gives his knowledgeable opinion on the matter.
The Vancouver Canucks announced that Manny Malhotra will not return this season due to the horrible eye injury that he received from a deflected puck off of a stick last Wednesday.
Watch out for the Kings. Mayor's Manor has the story of two prospects who won the WHL and OHL scoring titles.
It's not too early to RSVP to the #NHL TweetUp for opening night of the playoffs at Foley's in Manhattan sponsored by The Program.
The Kraft Hockeyville competition is always a neat story where the NHL comes to a small town. Here are this year's final five.
An interesting blog that you may want to check out is A Day in the Life of a Hockey Wife. It is an eclectic mix of stuff that is a unique perspective.
Odds and Ends...
I've mad so many negative comments about "Pac Man" Jones over the years, I thought I would give equal time to a positive story from Yahoo that paints a picture of a reformed man. Read it and see if you believe it.
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, the Tennessean has a quiz to test your knowledge.
The New York Times looks at how Google is transforming into a huge media company.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Predators Lose Ground In Spite of Getting a Point and Wednesday Wrap-Up
The Nashville Predators salvaged a point in last night's match with Edmonton but still lost ground in the tough Western Conference Race.
With the point, the Preds moved up to ninth place with 73 points ahead of the idle Minnesota Wild who now a point back with a game in hand.
Vancouver won in OT against Columbus which keeps the BJ's four points behind us. Dallas beat Phoenix which moves the Stars a point ahead of the Preds. The Blues mailed it in to Calgary which puts the Flames two ahead and San Jose won in the shootout which puts them out of our range with 80 points.
There is no doubt that the Preds' loss hurt more than it would have had they been playing decently lately. Unfortunately, it was more of a confirmation that things appear to be headed in the wrong direction.
At some point, unless there is a turnaround, there will come a point where one of these type of losses will be the final nail in the coffin for the season. The Predators generally have played their best when their back was against the wall. If that holds true, they will surprise everyone with a win in Vancouver on Thursday.
The star of the game for the Predators last night was Jerred Smithson who went 13-1 in the face off circle while the rest of the team was 19-25.
Preds-Oilers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night. Sorry about the snarky comments.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Hockey Night in Nashville, and George Scoville.
Dirk Hoag had the video of Geoffrion's first goal posted fairly quickly after it was made.
Pekka Rinne told the Edmonton Journal that he was not impressed with Omark's shootout move.
From oil country comes the story from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Josh Cooper got Shea Weber to say that he wants to stay in Nashville.
The Edmonton Journal has a piece on Blake Geoffrion. He's going to be as popular on the road as at home due to his heritage.
Dirk Hoag has a link to David Poile's appearance on The Zone yesterday where there were indications that Steve Sullivan may not return this season.
Ken Campbell has the Predators listed as a trade deadline loser in his analysis. He has generally been positive about the Preds this year.
It's hard to believe that the Preds are younger than the Oilers.
Interesting Tweet and quote from @dchesnokov: Radulov on the Remparts and Quebec: "I will remember Quebec forever. It was there when I had my best club victories with the Remparts. And even though all of that happened at the junior level, I will never forget it. I got so much over there - friends, fans, and the city itself will always hold a special place in my heart. At times I even think 'Why don't they have a professional team there?'. . . I don't think I would have left to go anywhere had I had the chance to stay there!"
The Milwaukee Admirals topped the Toronto Marlies 3-1 in an odd Tuesday day game. Mark Deckanich was sharp after a nine day layoff.
Programing Note...
Be sure and join us for Ryan Porth's RLD Radio at noon Central where the special guest will be NHL.com's Dave Lozo. He is a knowledgeable and entertaining guy who always has keen insights.
Around the NHL...
Last night was full of thrillers with Vancouver winning in eight rounds of a shoot out, San Jose finishing off the Avs, and Dallas winning with 4.8 seconds left (video) in Phoenix.
Alexander Ovechkin hasn't had the stats this year that folks are used to seeing but he hasn't lost his touch as seen in this overtime winner last night against the Islanders.
Here is a good example of what not to do in a world where everyone has a camera on their phone. These Patrick Kane pictures from Deadspin were tagged on Facebook.
It looks like the Sharks took a big risk signing Antti Niemi to a four-year $14.2 million deal. That seems like a high price to pay for a goalie that barely has a season's worth of playing time.
Elliotte Friedman has his weekly 30 thoughts with a discussion of restraint.
Despite a lot of folks saying the Kings overpaid for Dustin Penner, Kingscast is elated.
Ryan Porth rates the top five NHL GM's in their deadline dealings and also has the remaining strength of schedule for each team.
Pat Hoffman has his winners and losers too.
Puck Daddy rates all 30 teams with letter graded for the moves they made.
Down Goes Brown has their unique slant on the deadline deals.
While trades (or lack there of) were the order of the day on Monday, a few re-signings also occurred.
Ken Campbell reports that another entity may be interested in purchasing the Dallas Stars.
Justin Bourne looks at what a trade does to a player's family.
The Goldwater group's alleged looking out for the taxpayers best interest could cost them a fortune in higher interest rates so it appears.
It looks like Fox and Turner are showing interest in the NHL Cable package.
Odds and Ends...
It's really happening. "Michael" is leaving The Office. From RT @BBBaumgartner: This is Steve's last week on set. About to film his final scene in Accounting area with Oscar, Angela, and I.
Opening statements were heard in the Sedona "sweat lodge" trial where new age guru James Arthur Ray is on trial for three counts of manslaughter for the incident that occurred in October 2009.
The last US soldier from World War One died at 110.
If you are on a Verizon data plan, get ready to bend over.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
With the point, the Preds moved up to ninth place with 73 points ahead of the idle Minnesota Wild who now a point back with a game in hand.
Vancouver won in OT against Columbus which keeps the BJ's four points behind us. Dallas beat Phoenix which moves the Stars a point ahead of the Preds. The Blues mailed it in to Calgary which puts the Flames two ahead and San Jose won in the shootout which puts them out of our range with 80 points.
There is no doubt that the Preds' loss hurt more than it would have had they been playing decently lately. Unfortunately, it was more of a confirmation that things appear to be headed in the wrong direction.
At some point, unless there is a turnaround, there will come a point where one of these type of losses will be the final nail in the coffin for the season. The Predators generally have played their best when their back was against the wall. If that holds true, they will surprise everyone with a win in Vancouver on Thursday.
The star of the game for the Predators last night was Jerred Smithson who went 13-1 in the face off circle while the rest of the team was 19-25.
Preds-Oilers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night. Sorry about the snarky comments.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Dirk Hoag (with his advances stats), Jeremy Gover, Predatorial, Hockey Night in Nashville, and George Scoville.
Dirk Hoag had the video of Geoffrion's first goal posted fairly quickly after it was made.
Pekka Rinne told the Edmonton Journal that he was not impressed with Omark's shootout move.
From oil country comes the story from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Josh Cooper got Shea Weber to say that he wants to stay in Nashville.
The Edmonton Journal has a piece on Blake Geoffrion. He's going to be as popular on the road as at home due to his heritage.
Dirk Hoag has a link to David Poile's appearance on The Zone yesterday where there were indications that Steve Sullivan may not return this season.
Ken Campbell has the Predators listed as a trade deadline loser in his analysis. He has generally been positive about the Preds this year.
It's hard to believe that the Preds are younger than the Oilers.
Interesting Tweet and quote from @dchesnokov: Radulov on the Remparts and Quebec: "I will remember Quebec forever. It was there when I had my best club victories with the Remparts. And even though all of that happened at the junior level, I will never forget it. I got so much over there - friends, fans, and the city itself will always hold a special place in my heart. At times I even think 'Why don't they have a professional team there?'. . . I don't think I would have left to go anywhere had I had the chance to stay there!"
The Milwaukee Admirals topped the Toronto Marlies 3-1 in an odd Tuesday day game. Mark Deckanich was sharp after a nine day layoff.
Programing Note...
Be sure and join us for Ryan Porth's RLD Radio at noon Central where the special guest will be NHL.com's Dave Lozo. He is a knowledgeable and entertaining guy who always has keen insights.
Around the NHL...
Last night was full of thrillers with Vancouver winning in eight rounds of a shoot out, San Jose finishing off the Avs, and Dallas winning with 4.8 seconds left (video) in Phoenix.
Alexander Ovechkin hasn't had the stats this year that folks are used to seeing but he hasn't lost his touch as seen in this overtime winner last night against the Islanders.
Here is a good example of what not to do in a world where everyone has a camera on their phone. These Patrick Kane pictures from Deadspin were tagged on Facebook.
It looks like the Sharks took a big risk signing Antti Niemi to a four-year $14.2 million deal. That seems like a high price to pay for a goalie that barely has a season's worth of playing time.
Elliotte Friedman has his weekly 30 thoughts with a discussion of restraint.
Despite a lot of folks saying the Kings overpaid for Dustin Penner, Kingscast is elated.
Ryan Porth rates the top five NHL GM's in their deadline dealings and also has the remaining strength of schedule for each team.
Pat Hoffman has his winners and losers too.
Puck Daddy rates all 30 teams with letter graded for the moves they made.
Down Goes Brown has their unique slant on the deadline deals.
While trades (or lack there of) were the order of the day on Monday, a few re-signings also occurred.
Ken Campbell reports that another entity may be interested in purchasing the Dallas Stars.
Justin Bourne looks at what a trade does to a player's family.
The Goldwater group's alleged looking out for the taxpayers best interest could cost them a fortune in higher interest rates so it appears.
It looks like Fox and Turner are showing interest in the NHL Cable package.
Odds and Ends...
It's really happening. "Michael" is leaving The Office. From RT @BBBaumgartner: This is Steve's last week on set. About to film his final scene in Accounting area with Oscar, Angela, and I.
Opening statements were heard in the Sedona "sweat lodge" trial where new age guru James Arthur Ray is on trial for three counts of manslaughter for the incident that occurred in October 2009.
The last US soldier from World War One died at 110.
If you are on a Verizon data plan, get ready to bend over.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Predators Third Period Woes Continue, Lose 2-1 in Shootout To Oilers
The Nashville Predators played two periods of tremendous hockey but could only manage a 1-1 tie with the Edmonton Oilers as they started the final period. The Oil then turned in an all world performance in the third, keeping the Preds on their heels and in their zone for the better part of regulation play.
After a fast paced overtime period, Linus Omark was the hero of the evening nailing his shot in the fourth round of the skills competition to give the last place Oilers the win and an extra point that they will never need.
The Predators looked like whipped puppies as they walked by the television cameras exiting the ice. It is difficult to comprehend the difference in play between the first two periods and the third but it has become a troubling trend as the Preds are sinking like a rock in the Western Conference standings.
Blake Geoffrion's first NHL goal was the only one scored for the Predators. David Poile said yesterday that they "were going with the youngsters" but I assume he expected the more experienced players to participate too.
Jim Vandermeer had the only regulation goal for the Oilers.
Martin Gerber took his season record to 3-0 stopping all but one of the 35 Nashville shots. Pekka Rinne stopped 25 of 26 shots in regulation before yielding two of four in the shootout.
The first period got off to a blazing start with both teams racing up and down the ice. Ales Hemsky came close to a goal at 3:30 on a breakaway but caught the post instead.
Geoffrion got his first NHL goal in his third game at 12:45 off of a great pass from Ryan Suter from behind the net to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.
The first goal celebration was interrupted with Geoffrion still on the ice when the Oilers answered quickly, 41 seconds later. Vandermeer blasted a slapper through traffic that was congregated in front of the net and past Rinne to tie the game at one.
Nashville out shot the Oilers 18-7 in the opening period after leading 8-1 in the first six minutes. The Preds dominated the Corsi 27-15.
The second period was more of the same with neither team scoring a goal before play was halted with 1:11 left due to damaged glass.
After the break, the period officially ended with the Preds out shooting the Oilers 12-6 and leading the Corsi 23-13. Jerred Smithson was a perfect 10-0 in the face off circle at the end of the period.
In spite of the altered start to the final period the Preds continued their third period no-show trend as Edmonton pushed the pace and kept the puck in the Predator zone for the better part of the final stanza. The Oilers looked like champions with nothing to lose out shooting the Preds 11-4 and leading the Corsi 17-7.
In Overtime, the Predators perked up a bit but were out shot 2-1 while having a 4-3 advantage in the Corsi. There were no stoppages for the full five minutes.
In the shoot out, Jordan Eberle nailed the opening attempt which was matched by Marty Erat. After misses by Taylor Hall, Mike Fisher, Gilbert Brule, and David Legwand, Omark, slipped the puck past Rinne for the eventual game winner. Cody Franson went last and was unable to convert.
Nick Spaling was hit in the face and left the ice at 10:18 in the first and did not return until 7:15 in the second wearing a full cage to protect his bloodied face.
The Predators will have to regroup quickly as they travel to Vancouver to play the top ranked Canucks on Thursday night at the Rogers Rogers Arena.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
After a fast paced overtime period, Linus Omark was the hero of the evening nailing his shot in the fourth round of the skills competition to give the last place Oilers the win and an extra point that they will never need.
The Predators looked like whipped puppies as they walked by the television cameras exiting the ice. It is difficult to comprehend the difference in play between the first two periods and the third but it has become a troubling trend as the Preds are sinking like a rock in the Western Conference standings.
Blake Geoffrion's first NHL goal was the only one scored for the Predators. David Poile said yesterday that they "were going with the youngsters" but I assume he expected the more experienced players to participate too.
Jim Vandermeer had the only regulation goal for the Oilers.
Martin Gerber took his season record to 3-0 stopping all but one of the 35 Nashville shots. Pekka Rinne stopped 25 of 26 shots in regulation before yielding two of four in the shootout.
The first period got off to a blazing start with both teams racing up and down the ice. Ales Hemsky came close to a goal at 3:30 on a breakaway but caught the post instead.
Geoffrion got his first NHL goal in his third game at 12:45 off of a great pass from Ryan Suter from behind the net to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.
The first goal celebration was interrupted with Geoffrion still on the ice when the Oilers answered quickly, 41 seconds later. Vandermeer blasted a slapper through traffic that was congregated in front of the net and past Rinne to tie the game at one.
Nashville out shot the Oilers 18-7 in the opening period after leading 8-1 in the first six minutes. The Preds dominated the Corsi 27-15.
The second period was more of the same with neither team scoring a goal before play was halted with 1:11 left due to damaged glass.
After the break, the period officially ended with the Preds out shooting the Oilers 12-6 and leading the Corsi 23-13. Jerred Smithson was a perfect 10-0 in the face off circle at the end of the period.
In spite of the altered start to the final period the Preds continued their third period no-show trend as Edmonton pushed the pace and kept the puck in the Predator zone for the better part of the final stanza. The Oilers looked like champions with nothing to lose out shooting the Preds 11-4 and leading the Corsi 17-7.
In Overtime, the Predators perked up a bit but were out shot 2-1 while having a 4-3 advantage in the Corsi. There were no stoppages for the full five minutes.
In the shoot out, Jordan Eberle nailed the opening attempt which was matched by Marty Erat. After misses by Taylor Hall, Mike Fisher, Gilbert Brule, and David Legwand, Omark, slipped the puck past Rinne for the eventual game winner. Cody Franson went last and was unable to convert.
Nick Spaling was hit in the face and left the ice at 10:18 in the first and did not return until 7:15 in the second wearing a full cage to protect his bloodied face.
The Predators will have to regroup quickly as they travel to Vancouver to play the top ranked Canucks on Thursday night at the Rogers Rogers Arena.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Martin Gerber Will Start for Edmonton Against the Nashville Predators Tonight
Tom Callahan has the pregame update from Edmonton where the Preds will play tonight at 8:30 p.m. Central. The biggest surprise is that Martin Gerber (2-0-0, 1.50, .950) will be in net for the Oilers and not Devan Dubnyk (8-9-6, 2.88, .911) who got the 4-0 shut out in Nashville on February 7.
This will be Gerber's third start this year in the NHL and first since November 29 when he beat Ottawa. He is 2-2-0 lifetime against the Predators with a 3.13 GAA and a .888 save %.
Pekka Rinne (22-18-6, 2.16, .927) will be in net for the Preds.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
This will be Gerber's third start this year in the NHL and first since November 29 when he beat Ottawa. He is 2-2-0 lifetime against the Predators with a 3.13 GAA and a .888 save %.
Pekka Rinne (22-18-6, 2.16, .927) will be in net for the Preds.
Video Courtesy of Predators.com
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Predators Hit the Road with the Players They Have and Tuesday Tidbits
The Nashville Predators (32-23-8) head to Edmonton to play the Oilers (23-35-8) tonight at Rexall Place in the first of four critical road game that make up the last extended road trip of the season.
The Oilers sent Dustin Penner to Los Angeles yesterday so this will be their first game without their big man who was tied with rookie Taylor Hall for the team lead in goals.
The Predators made their big splash a few weeks ago, picking up Mike Fisher from Ottawa. Their two other trade deadline week acquisitions were home grown with the promotion of defenseman Jon Blum and Center Blake "Boomer" Geoffrion.
I'm sure both of the youngsters felt that he would be in Nashville for a few games but it now appears that they will be an integral part of this year's run at a playoff position.
The two teams have met twice this season. On Jan 23, the Preds won 3-2 in a shoot out in Edmonton and on February 7, the Oilers embarrassed the Preds with a 4-0 shut out in Nashville.
The Predators need at least a split on the trip to remain in the mix for the final playoff position in the Western Conference. Once they return home, they will play 12 of the last 15 games at Bridgestone Arena where they have a 15-7-7 record.
While February was the Predators worst month of the year, going 5-6-2, the team's power play surprisingly came to life, going 8 for 36 (22.2%). This compares to 13.8% for the team's first fifty games.
The Predators will continue to ride Pekka Rinne (22-18-6, 2.16, .927) in net as long as he holds up. The Oilers could counter with either Devan Dubnyk (8-9-6, 2.88, .911) or Nikolai Khabibulin (10-26-2, 3.33, .893).
Rinne was looking forward to the trip after Sunday's win over Columbus. "Obviously. it is going to be a challenge. We're going to play against tough teams so it's going to be extremely hard, but at the same time it's always fun to be on the road and be with your team mates, especially this time of year when there is so much on the table."
Of note is the fact that with Sunday's win over Columbus, Barry Trotz moved into fourth place in the number of games with one team in NHL history. His 965 win moved him past Jack Adams, the man whose name is on the trophy that Trotz should win one of these years.
After tonight's game, the Preds will face the conference leading Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Predatorial, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond has a story about Jon Blum's first goal with a point at the end about what makes the "Predator Way" special.
Josh Cooper has an excellent story about Shea Weber and Ryan Suter and what the Olympics meant to them a year after the fact.
Here are quotes from Bryan Mullen from yesterday's David Poile Presser. He also has a story about the lack of moves.
David Boclair does yeoman's work to look at how many games it took Predator first round picks to score their first goal. He also discusses the Preds dealings on deadline day.
Predators prospect Taylor Beck was named the OHL player of the week yesterday. He had four goals and nine assists in four games last week.
Dirk Hoag comments on the other Western Conference team's moves yesterday.
Jeremy Gover also memorializes the day's action.
Robby at Hockey Night in Nashville gives his thoughts on deadline day.
Mike MacDonald feels no moves was the right move for the Predators.
The season ticket renewal forms for current season ticket holders have been sent out and the Predators formally revealed to the public all the information about season tickets for next year.
There was concern that Shea Weber would receive supplemental discipline for his cross-check and punch to Fedor Tyutin but it appears Weber was cleared. Here is a video of the hit by R. J. Umberger with ten seconds left in Sunday's game that brought the game's tension to a head.
Here are the last six seconds of play including the final skirmish and penalties to Weber.
Around the NHL...
Ryan Porth has a composite look at the trade deadline along with a Cover It Live replay of Tweets from the insiders at RLD Hockey.
The Dustin Penner to the Kings trade was the highlight of a bunch of marginally interesting moves on the final day of trading until the off season.
Here is a really thoughtful piece from Adrian Dater prior to the trade deadline with plenty of life perspective followed by a harried account of the day that reminds me of the helicopter scene in Goodfellas. Here is a more concise story on the moves that were made.
Odds and Ends...
You really have to wonder if winning a contest to get married at a White Castle is a solid way to start off a long marriage.
Facebook is changing their "Like" button to make it more like a "share" button.
I wish I had a XOOM to tether my Droid X to. If I did, these would be the instructions.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Oilers sent Dustin Penner to Los Angeles yesterday so this will be their first game without their big man who was tied with rookie Taylor Hall for the team lead in goals.
The Predators made their big splash a few weeks ago, picking up Mike Fisher from Ottawa. Their two other trade deadline week acquisitions were home grown with the promotion of defenseman Jon Blum and Center Blake "Boomer" Geoffrion.
I'm sure both of the youngsters felt that he would be in Nashville for a few games but it now appears that they will be an integral part of this year's run at a playoff position.
The two teams have met twice this season. On Jan 23, the Preds won 3-2 in a shoot out in Edmonton and on February 7, the Oilers embarrassed the Preds with a 4-0 shut out in Nashville.
The Predators need at least a split on the trip to remain in the mix for the final playoff position in the Western Conference. Once they return home, they will play 12 of the last 15 games at Bridgestone Arena where they have a 15-7-7 record.
While February was the Predators worst month of the year, going 5-6-2, the team's power play surprisingly came to life, going 8 for 36 (22.2%). This compares to 13.8% for the team's first fifty games.
The Predators will continue to ride Pekka Rinne (22-18-6, 2.16, .927) in net as long as he holds up. The Oilers could counter with either Devan Dubnyk (8-9-6, 2.88, .911) or Nikolai Khabibulin (10-26-2, 3.33, .893).
Rinne was looking forward to the trip after Sunday's win over Columbus. "Obviously. it is going to be a challenge. We're going to play against tough teams so it's going to be extremely hard, but at the same time it's always fun to be on the road and be with your team mates, especially this time of year when there is so much on the table."
Of note is the fact that with Sunday's win over Columbus, Barry Trotz moved into fourth place in the number of games with one team in NHL history. His 965 win moved him past Jack Adams, the man whose name is on the trophy that Trotz should win one of these years.
After tonight's game, the Preds will face the conference leading Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.
Other previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Predatorial, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond has a story about Jon Blum's first goal with a point at the end about what makes the "Predator Way" special.
Josh Cooper has an excellent story about Shea Weber and Ryan Suter and what the Olympics meant to them a year after the fact.
Here are quotes from Bryan Mullen from yesterday's David Poile Presser. He also has a story about the lack of moves.
David Boclair does yeoman's work to look at how many games it took Predator first round picks to score their first goal. He also discusses the Preds dealings on deadline day.
Predators prospect Taylor Beck was named the OHL player of the week yesterday. He had four goals and nine assists in four games last week.
Dirk Hoag comments on the other Western Conference team's moves yesterday.
Jeremy Gover also memorializes the day's action.
Robby at Hockey Night in Nashville gives his thoughts on deadline day.
Mike MacDonald feels no moves was the right move for the Predators.
The season ticket renewal forms for current season ticket holders have been sent out and the Predators formally revealed to the public all the information about season tickets for next year.
There was concern that Shea Weber would receive supplemental discipline for his cross-check and punch to Fedor Tyutin but it appears Weber was cleared. Here is a video of the hit by R. J. Umberger with ten seconds left in Sunday's game that brought the game's tension to a head.
Here are the last six seconds of play including the final skirmish and penalties to Weber.
Around the NHL...
Ryan Porth has a composite look at the trade deadline along with a Cover It Live replay of Tweets from the insiders at RLD Hockey.
The Dustin Penner to the Kings trade was the highlight of a bunch of marginally interesting moves on the final day of trading until the off season.
Here is a really thoughtful piece from Adrian Dater prior to the trade deadline with plenty of life perspective followed by a harried account of the day that reminds me of the helicopter scene in Goodfellas. Here is a more concise story on the moves that were made.
Odds and Ends...
You really have to wonder if winning a contest to get married at a White Castle is a solid way to start off a long marriage.
Facebook is changing their "Like" button to make it more like a "share" button.
I wish I had a XOOM to tether my Droid X to. If I did, these would be the instructions.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Time for the Predators to Regroup and Tuesday Tidbits
Last night's game against the young Edmonton Oilers is what happens when a team that focuses on defense and goaltending loses that focus against a team that has nothing to lose.
The Oilers got an early lead after holding off a barrage of Predator shots early, gained confidence, and then controlled the pace for the remainder of the game.
Devan Dubnyk was the star of the game in goal for the Oilers and recorded his first career shutout. He was originally a first round pick (14th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and showed the Predators why he was worthy of the early pick.
There were a lot of complaints about the Oilers' third goal which should have been blown off but the bottom line was that the Oilers were the better team on Monday night.
In spit of the Preds' big win over Detroit, the Preds are mired in a slump, going 1-4-1 over the last six games. It is only by a miracle that the remain in fourth place in the Western Conference after this swoon.
It is only by the slimmest of margins that they are still in the top eight. They still have 63 points but are only three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings who are in ninth place.
With the loss last night, combined with Detroit's win over the Rangers, the Preds are again seven points behind the Central conference leading Red Wings.
The Predators will practice this morning at Centennial Sportsplex at 10:30 A.M. before leaving for Detroit where they will play the Wings on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena.
The next home game will be Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Colorado Avalanche and could mark the return of ex-Pred, Peter Forsberg. Get your tickets now as they are going fast.
Predators - Oilers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with post-game video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Jeremy Gover, Mark Willoughby, Dirk Hoag, What the Puck, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
The happy story from oil country comes from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
Audio clips from the Predators include Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Steve Sullivan. From the winning locker room, we hear from Shawn Horcoff, Devan Dubnyk, and Coach Tom Renney.
Programming note...
I will guest host on Ryan Porth's RLD Hockey Radio today at noon Central. Ryan's guests will be Sharks play by play man Randy Hahn and Mike Colligan from The Hockey Writers. Join us for what is sure to be an excellent show.
In Pred Nation...
Ex-Pred Alexander Radulov won the "Best Player" award at the KHL All-Star game.
Rachel at What the Puck re-lives Saturday's shorty. It ended up being the NHL #1 Goal of the Week.
Derek Zona looks at the Preds vs. the Wings down the stretch.
The Edmonton Journal discusses Sergei Kostitsyn's clean slate in Nashville.
Around the NHL...
The sad news out of Boston is that Marc Savard is done for the season. Cap Geek indicates that when Savard goes on LTIR that about $4 million will open up for the Bruins cap.
Reports out of Pittsburgh indicate Sydney Crosby's earliest return could be in March.
News about Ray Emery's return from @DarrenDreger: Emery signs 2-way contract with Anaheim. Will be on waivers at noon. $500,000 (NHL). $105,000 (AhL). Emery's deal is not about the $, hence the 2-way deal. 2-way allows him to spend more than 2 weeks in the AHL if he needs to.
Phil Kessel addressed the media yesterday to try to clean up a mess that he made the day before. James Mirtle has the details. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play in Toronto.
The Motherpucker Hockey Hottie contest appears to have come to an early conclusion as the site note the Twitter accounts no longer exist. Dalia Kurtz has the story of what happened.
Brian Reynolds is running a poll on the NHL's worst rule choosing Instigator and Slashing the Stick as the competitors.
Kingscast felt obligated to add a little cheese to their site so we decided to pass it on.
Here is Adrian Daters daily update on Peter Forsberg. (Swedish version here) I can't wait until Saturday when the circus comes to Smashville. Later in the day on Monday visa issues surfaced. Dater defends against all the folks hating on Foppa at Versus.
Here is the Sports Business Journal report that showed a dramatic fall in ratings for the Blue Jackets and an equally big rise for the Blues.
The refrigeration truck is on the way to the Heritage Classic and ice man, Dan Craig says the long range forecast is calling for perfect temperatures.
Odds and Ends...
Here are some sound clips listed by manufacturer that may help you preview a hard drive crash. This is interesting since we seem to be having issues on a laptop right now.
Since I'm still trying to rent my Condo in Cocoa Beach, this isn't a good time to bring up that there are 100,000 sharks swimming in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. Maybe I'll knock off $50 as a shark discount.
For those who have more money than sense, Victoria's Secrets has a $2 million bra.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Oilers got an early lead after holding off a barrage of Predator shots early, gained confidence, and then controlled the pace for the remainder of the game.
Devan Dubnyk was the star of the game in goal for the Oilers and recorded his first career shutout. He was originally a first round pick (14th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and showed the Predators why he was worthy of the early pick.
There were a lot of complaints about the Oilers' third goal which should have been blown off but the bottom line was that the Oilers were the better team on Monday night.
In spit of the Preds' big win over Detroit, the Preds are mired in a slump, going 1-4-1 over the last six games. It is only by a miracle that the remain in fourth place in the Western Conference after this swoon.
It is only by the slimmest of margins that they are still in the top eight. They still have 63 points but are only three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings who are in ninth place.
With the loss last night, combined with Detroit's win over the Rangers, the Preds are again seven points behind the Central conference leading Red Wings.
The Predators will practice this morning at Centennial Sportsplex at 10:30 A.M. before leaving for Detroit where they will play the Wings on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Joe Louis Arena.
The next home game will be Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the Colorado Avalanche and could mark the return of ex-Pred, Peter Forsberg. Get your tickets now as they are going fast.
Predators - Oilers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night with post-game video.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
David Boclair has his story at The City Paper.
From the blog world reports come from Ryan Porth, Amanda DiPaolo, Jeremy Gover, Mark Willoughby, Dirk Hoag, What the Puck, and Hockey Night in Nashville.
The happy story from oil country comes from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
Audio clips from the Predators include Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, and Steve Sullivan. From the winning locker room, we hear from Shawn Horcoff, Devan Dubnyk, and Coach Tom Renney.
Programming note...
I will guest host on Ryan Porth's RLD Hockey Radio today at noon Central. Ryan's guests will be Sharks play by play man Randy Hahn and Mike Colligan from The Hockey Writers. Join us for what is sure to be an excellent show.
In Pred Nation...
Ex-Pred Alexander Radulov won the "Best Player" award at the KHL All-Star game.
Rachel at What the Puck re-lives Saturday's shorty. It ended up being the NHL #1 Goal of the Week.
Derek Zona looks at the Preds vs. the Wings down the stretch.
The Edmonton Journal discusses Sergei Kostitsyn's clean slate in Nashville.
Around the NHL...
The sad news out of Boston is that Marc Savard is done for the season. Cap Geek indicates that when Savard goes on LTIR that about $4 million will open up for the Bruins cap.
Reports out of Pittsburgh indicate Sydney Crosby's earliest return could be in March.
News about Ray Emery's return from @DarrenDreger: Emery signs 2-way contract with Anaheim. Will be on waivers at noon. $500,000 (NHL). $105,000 (AhL). Emery's deal is not about the $, hence the 2-way deal. 2-way allows him to spend more than 2 weeks in the AHL if he needs to.
Phil Kessel addressed the media yesterday to try to clean up a mess that he made the day before. James Mirtle has the details. I'm not sure why anyone would want to play in Toronto.
The Motherpucker Hockey Hottie contest appears to have come to an early conclusion as the site note the Twitter accounts no longer exist. Dalia Kurtz has the story of what happened.
Brian Reynolds is running a poll on the NHL's worst rule choosing Instigator and Slashing the Stick as the competitors.
Kingscast felt obligated to add a little cheese to their site so we decided to pass it on.
Here is Adrian Daters daily update on Peter Forsberg. (Swedish version here) I can't wait until Saturday when the circus comes to Smashville. Later in the day on Monday visa issues surfaced. Dater defends against all the folks hating on Foppa at Versus.
Here is the Sports Business Journal report that showed a dramatic fall in ratings for the Blue Jackets and an equally big rise for the Blues.
The refrigeration truck is on the way to the Heritage Classic and ice man, Dan Craig says the long range forecast is calling for perfect temperatures.
Odds and Ends...
Here are some sound clips listed by manufacturer that may help you preview a hard drive crash. This is interesting since we seem to be having issues on a laptop right now.
Since I'm still trying to rent my Condo in Cocoa Beach, this isn't a good time to bring up that there are 100,000 sharks swimming in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. Maybe I'll knock off $50 as a shark discount.
For those who have more money than sense, Victoria's Secrets has a $2 million bra.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Monday, February 7, 2011
Oilers Trap the Predators in 4-0 Victory
The Edmonton Oilers laid a trap for the Nashville Predators on Monday Night at the Bridgestone Arena and massacred the Predators with a 4-0 thrashing.
In previewing tonight's game, Coach Barry Trotz proved to be a prophet saying, "It's not a trap game if you respect your opponent and play the way you are going to need to play. It's going to take a great effort to beat Edmonton."
The Predators did not have a "great effort" nor even a decent effort as they started strong and quickly fizzled. On the other side, the young Oiler's team got a lead, built confidence, and never looked back.
The Oilers got goals from Andrew Cogliano, Ryan Jones, Jordan Eberle, and Dustin Penner. Their big weapon on the evening was Devan Dubnyk, who recorded his first career shutout stopping all 37 Predator shots.
Pekka Rinne had an off night allowing four goals on 20 Oiler shots before getting a rest in favor of Anders Lindback with 12:57 left in the contest.
The Predators started the game completely controling the pace, out shooting the Oilers 10-1 in the first ten minutes. In spite of the dominating play, the first crack in the dike came at 14:27 when the Oilers put a couple of shots on Rinne with Cogliano finding net on the second attempt.
In the second period, at 14:23, ex-Pred Jones got the thrill of the game scoring on Rinne off a cross ice pass from Colin Fraser.
The Oilers third goal was a travesty of justice when Jim Vandermeer fired a shot from the right circle and Eberle plowed over Rinne and was credited with the goal.
Trotz was clear on his opinion of the play, "The third goal shouldn't have been a goal. It was totally interference. We scored a goal in Philadelphia where we never touched the the goaltender and it got called back, but Pekka gets run over and they allow that?"
The Oiler's final goal, that sent Rinne packing at 6:58 in the third, was on a breakaway by Penner where he went five hole and that was the icing on the cake for the Oilers. At that point, the only question was if Dubnyk would hold on for the shutout which he did.
The bottom line was that on this given night, the Oilers were the better team. Trotz gave them full credit, "They had good focus, blocked a lot of shots, and Dubnyk did a good job. It was a little frustrating, but I don't want to take anything away from them. They played a real solid game."
The Predators will practice on Tuesday morning and then travel to Detroit for a rematch with the Wings on Wednesday at Joe Louis Arena.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Predators Play With Fire But Still Beat the Oilers 3-2 in a Shootout
It took Cody Franson's first ever NHL shootout goal to give the Preds a 3-2 edge in a game that was not pretty to watch.
The Predators had goals from Alexander Sulzer and Joel Ward while the Oilers got their goals from Andrew Cogliano and Taylor Hall. Sulzer
Rinne was the difference maker for the Preds for the entire game and in the shootout as he stopped 22 of 24 Edmonton shots and all three in the skills competition. Devan Dubnyk played well for the Oilers stopping 26 of 28 Preds shots but gave up the only goal in the shootout to take the loss.
The Predators ended the night with sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference with 60 points. The Preds now trail Vancouver by seven points and Central Division leader, Detroit by four.
The Predators clearly were the better team on the ice from the opening drop of the puck but failed to show it at times. Sulzer's first NHL goal was the first goal of the game at 11:53. Sulzer came out of the penalty box and skated toward the goal where he took a perfect feed from Sergei Kostitsyn to give the Preds a 1-0 lead.
The Preds outplayed the Oil for the rest of the period that was highlighted by a dangerous hit at 13:57 by Zack Stortini on Patric Hornqvist who was fighting for the puck on the boards. For the period, the shots were tied 5-5 while the Preds led the Corsi 16-13 as there was more skating than shooting in the opening stanza.
The second period produced no scoring but several good scoring chances by the young Oilers. Rinne should have been the star of the period for making up for several Predator turnovers by stopping the puck on the rush.
The Oilers out shot the Preds 9-7 and led the Corsi 21-16 for the period.
As the third period started at 2:03, the fire that the Preds had been playing with came back to burn them when Cogliano took a pass from Liam Reddox and put it past Rinne from point blank range to tie the game 1-1. Cody Franson made a horrible move to leave Cogliano wide open at the net.
Play stopped momentarily at 9:55 when J.P. Dumont was hit in the head by Tom Gilbert with a high stick but no penalty was called.
Replacement of a piece of glass after a holding call on Ladislav Smid at 12:10 gave the Predators a chance to regroup before the resulting power play. The Predators were able to convert at 14:05 when Ward redirected a shot from Sulzer past Dubnyk to put the Preds up 2-1.
The Predators couldn't stand success as they allowed Hall to break free through the neutral zone and beat Rinne to tie the game 2-2 with 3:47 remaining in the contest.
The Predators went on the power play with :46 seconds left when Hornqvist drew a hooking penalty. It carried over into the overtime and the Preds were unable to convert. As the man advantage expired, Ryan Suter was called for tripping which led to several Oiler chances.
One play was sent for review when Rinne lost his stick and a shot by Shawn Horcoff was stopped by the stick laying up against the post.
Nashville out shot the Oilers 14-6 in the third period while Edmonton led 4-2 in shots in the overtime period.
In the shoot out, Franson was the only shooter to find the net and seal the Predator victory. Marcel Goc missed the first shot for the Preds as Linus Omark, Sam Gagner, and Taylor Hall missed for the Oilers.
The Predators left immediately after the game for the short plane ride to Calgary where they will play the Flames on Monday at 8:30 p.m.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Predators Face Young Oilers Tonight in Edmonton
When the Nashville Predators were mapping out their current six game road trip, the one game that probably appeared to be the most winnable was the match-up with the young Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place at 7 p.m tonight.
The Predators have won two of three on the trip and have won nine of their last eleven and have risen to fourth place in the Western Conference. The Oilers have lost four in a row and are mired in last place in the West with only the New Jersey Devils having a worse record in the NHL.
Both teams have had a few days off having not played since Thursday. The Preds manhandled the Avalanche 5-1 in Denver while the Oilers lost to Dallas 4-2 at home in Edmonton.
Needless to say, a loss by the Predators tonight would be a major upset but it is possible. The two teams have not met this season. The last two years the Predators have won three of the four meetings. The Predators have won their last three games in Edmonton and seven of their last eight.
The Oilers are not without weapons boasting a great young core of players that includes Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle (IR), Magnus Pajaarvi, and Linus Omark. Due to their poor showing in recent years they have been able to pick top players in the draft like Hall at number one in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
With back to back games and the Predators playing in Calgary tomorrow, it is unknown what Barry Trotz's goalie strategy will be. Pekka Rinne (16-11-4, 2.09, .930) is 8-1 with a 1.44 GAA in his last nine starts. Anders Lindback (10-4-2, 2.58, .915) has seen little action since Rinne returned from his most recent injury and you would think he would play tonight instead of Monday if Rinne is not playing both games.
On the other side, it is also unclear if the Oilers will go with Nikolai Khabibulin (8-21-2, 3.46, .892) or Devan Dubnyk (4-4-5, 2.81, .917). Khabibulin has started the last three and all resulted in losses.
After tonight's game, The Preds will leave immediately to travel south to Calgary where they will meet the Flames tomorrow at 8:30 p.m.
Other Predator previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Predators have won two of three on the trip and have won nine of their last eleven and have risen to fourth place in the Western Conference. The Oilers have lost four in a row and are mired in last place in the West with only the New Jersey Devils having a worse record in the NHL.
Both teams have had a few days off having not played since Thursday. The Preds manhandled the Avalanche 5-1 in Denver while the Oilers lost to Dallas 4-2 at home in Edmonton.
Needless to say, a loss by the Predators tonight would be a major upset but it is possible. The two teams have not met this season. The last two years the Predators have won three of the four meetings. The Predators have won their last three games in Edmonton and seven of their last eight.
The Oilers are not without weapons boasting a great young core of players that includes Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle (IR), Magnus Pajaarvi, and Linus Omark. Due to their poor showing in recent years they have been able to pick top players in the draft like Hall at number one in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
With back to back games and the Predators playing in Calgary tomorrow, it is unknown what Barry Trotz's goalie strategy will be. Pekka Rinne (16-11-4, 2.09, .930) is 8-1 with a 1.44 GAA in his last nine starts. Anders Lindback (10-4-2, 2.58, .915) has seen little action since Rinne returned from his most recent injury and you would think he would play tonight instead of Monday if Rinne is not playing both games.
On the other side, it is also unclear if the Oilers will go with Nikolai Khabibulin (8-21-2, 3.46, .892) or Devan Dubnyk (4-4-5, 2.81, .917). Khabibulin has started the last three and all resulted in losses.
After tonight's game, The Preds will leave immediately to travel south to Calgary where they will meet the Flames tomorrow at 8:30 p.m.
Other Predator previews come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, and Predators.com.
From oil country comes previews from Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, The Copper and Blue, OilersNation, and Oil on Whyte.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Happy Trade Deadline Day and Wednesday Wrap-Up
Today is the day that everyone has been waiting for. Many have compared Trade Deadline Day to Christmas, New Years Eve, the Super Bowl or whatever.
The thing that is amazing to me is the wild rumors that fly with no logic or basis to them. As you watch Twitter or NHL Network or listen to XM Home Ice, try to look at rumors with a critical eye and consider the source before you are convinced that it is true.
Ninety percent of the stories of the trades that actually happen will come from reliable sources like one of the TSN guys, Kevin Allen, or a few others that are in the know so don't get hyped up like folks did yesterday over a random Tweet like happened here.
Folks in Nashville are excited because the Predators are players again this year after sitting out last trade deadline and paying for it with staying home at the season's end. At the end of the day, will Dan Hamhus, Ryan Jones and Dan Ellis still be wearing the Black and Blue? We will know in a few hours.
Enjoy your trade deadline day!
Preds-Oilers Wrap...
Here is our game story with postgame interviews from last night.
John Glennon has his game story, notes column and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond has his game story as does David Boclair.
In the blog world, stories come from The View from 111, Forechecker, Brandon Felder, Section 303, and See Puck City.
The other side of the story came from The Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal.
In Pred Nation...
Jackson got us set up on iTunes formally so all of our POTG Radio podcasts can be downloaded easily.
Section 303 asks if Ryan Jones will be the next Rich Peverly since he was placed on waivers.
John Glennon looks at the potential of keeping Dan Hamhuis and having a very deep defense corps for the playoff run.
Pred prospect Mark Dekanich was named the AHL Goalie of the Month for February.
The Copper and Blue rate NHL teams on bang for the buck and the Preds are number one. No surprise. David Poile is the master.
Puck Daddy talks about a "Dan Hamhuis Derby".
Around the NHL...
RLD Hockey Radio episode 3 is now up on podcast. Ryan also has an interesting post on the top five deadline deals in the last five years.
Steve Lapore has been added to the NHL Insider Twitter feed. This is a very compact way to see real trade news without all the noise and rumors.
CapGeek has a cap calculator to try out potential trades with.
Matt Reitz analyzes the Crisis of Confidence that fans have with Gary Bettman.
Puck Daddy asks NHL Digest's Tyler McKinna for 5 Reasons he loves hockey. Good stuff!
For those ready to get toasted early today. the Trade Deadline Drinking Game is presented by The Program.
Finally, if you were at the Pred's game last night did you catch the new name of the arena? If you were there, you know what I'm talking about.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The thing that is amazing to me is the wild rumors that fly with no logic or basis to them. As you watch Twitter or NHL Network or listen to XM Home Ice, try to look at rumors with a critical eye and consider the source before you are convinced that it is true.
Ninety percent of the stories of the trades that actually happen will come from reliable sources like one of the TSN guys, Kevin Allen, or a few others that are in the know so don't get hyped up like folks did yesterday over a random Tweet like happened here.
Folks in Nashville are excited because the Predators are players again this year after sitting out last trade deadline and paying for it with staying home at the season's end. At the end of the day, will Dan Hamhus, Ryan Jones and Dan Ellis still be wearing the Black and Blue? We will know in a few hours.
Enjoy your trade deadline day!
Preds-Oilers Wrap...
Here is our game story with postgame interviews from last night.
John Glennon has his game story, notes column and postgame ponderings.
Jim Diamond has his game story as does David Boclair.
In the blog world, stories come from The View from 111, Forechecker, Brandon Felder, Section 303, and See Puck City.
The other side of the story came from The Edmonton Sun and the Edmonton Journal.
In Pred Nation...
Jackson got us set up on iTunes formally so all of our POTG Radio podcasts can be downloaded easily.
Section 303 asks if Ryan Jones will be the next Rich Peverly since he was placed on waivers.
John Glennon looks at the potential of keeping Dan Hamhuis and having a very deep defense corps for the playoff run.
Pred prospect Mark Dekanich was named the AHL Goalie of the Month for February.
The Copper and Blue rate NHL teams on bang for the buck and the Preds are number one. No surprise. David Poile is the master.
Puck Daddy talks about a "Dan Hamhuis Derby".
Around the NHL...
RLD Hockey Radio episode 3 is now up on podcast. Ryan also has an interesting post on the top five deadline deals in the last five years.
Steve Lapore has been added to the NHL Insider Twitter feed. This is a very compact way to see real trade news without all the noise and rumors.
CapGeek has a cap calculator to try out potential trades with.
Matt Reitz analyzes the Crisis of Confidence that fans have with Gary Bettman.
Puck Daddy asks NHL Digest's Tyler McKinna for 5 Reasons he loves hockey. Good stuff!
For those ready to get toasted early today. the Trade Deadline Drinking Game is presented by The Program.
Finally, if you were at the Pred's game last night did you catch the new name of the arena? If you were there, you know what I'm talking about.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Grebeshkov Stars in Debut as Preds Win 4-3
Coach Barry Trotz postgame comments
Shea Weber, Denis Grebeshkov, Ryan Suter and Pekka Rinne comment
Coach Pat Quinn, Jeff Deslauriers, and Tom Gilbert comment
Denis Grebeshkov made a quick transition from representing Russia at the Olympics, going back to the Edmonton Oilers, and then being traded to the Nashville Predators all in a few days span. All the activity did not phase him as he earned first star of the game honors in the Preds 4-3 victory over the Oilers.
Grebeshkov contributed on the first two Predator goals as he assisted on Colin Wilson's shot from the high slot at 12:14 in the first period and then scored a goal himself less than three minutes later to put the Preds in the lead for the first time in the game.
The newly engaged (to Hillary Duff) Mike Comrie had given the Oilers an early lead at 6:37 in the first that did not hold up.
In the second period Gilbert Brule scored a goal at 11:53 to bring the Oilers back into a 2-2 tie with the Preds. Shea Weber responded with a bomb from the high slot three minutes on the power play to put the Preds back into the lead.
The third period started quickly with a goal from Marc Pouliot at 2:54 to tie the game 3-3. Goalie Pekka Rinne admitted it was one he should have had, "It was a pretty good shot. I was probably still a little rusty and it should have been a blocker save."
Captain Jason Arnott came through for the Preds with the game winning goal a couple of minutes later on an odd play where he skated past the net and flipped the puck back toward the crease where it hit and Oiler player and went into the net.
Arnott's odd bounce goal has not been a rarity for the Oilers who have had little go in their direction recently. Coach Pat Quinn said, "We've seen those a lot this year, not handling the front of the net positionally. There was no reason for him to be there in the first place."
The Predators out shot the Oilers 28-25 but had a much larger spread in the Corsi numbers with a 55-42 margin. The Preds also were better in the face off circle winning 58% of the draws. They also forced several Oiler errors leading 14-6 in the takeaway column.
Storylines From The Game
Getting the Rust Off...
Coach Barry Trotz admitted that the game wasn't the team's best effort, “It was a good game in the sense that we got some rust off. There was a bit of sloppiness and you could tell we hadn’t played in a while – on both sides. If you look at other games, it will probably be the same."
Trotz continued, "We got good contributions from all our lines. They were pretty good for the most part. There was some rust on some of the guys, but that will come off.”
Welcome to the Newest Predator...
After making a quick trip between the Oilers and the Predators, Denis Grebeshkov made a great first impression on the Pred's fans and coaches with a two point game. Coach Barry Trotz said, "He was really good. He was instrumental in the first two goals. He kept the puck in on the Wilson goal. On the second goal, he got it through."
Grebeshkov explained his transition, "I thought it was going to be a little weird to play against those guys, but it wasn't. You always practice against those guys so it was the same. I was happy that our team won tonight and I couldn't have wished for a better start."
Olympians Return...
One of the expectations after the break was that he Olympics would be tired or mentally worn out but that did not appear to be the case as Weber, Suter and Hornqvist each had four shots and had relatively good games. Grebeshkov, who played for the Russians, was the game's first star.
Coach Barry Trotz commented, "The good players came in and carried the team. Probably for them, the hard part is that they’ve been playing at a high pace and high level for two weeks. The timing may be off. That pass that would have been on the stick may be ahead or behind. Our guys that have just been practicing are moving a bit slower, but we’ll all get the rust off.”
Shea Weber did not appear tired from the Olympics and commented, "It’s not bad. I really thought it would be a lot worse. I’m a little surprised, but I’ve felt OK."
Ryan Suter admitted to some fatigue saying, "It's going to be tough mentally. Physically we are fine, but mentally it's going to be draining for us. We just need to come with a clear head everyday and do what we can to help the team win and do what it takes."
Up Next...
The Preds ended the night in seventh place in the Western conference with 73 points which is three behind Colorado and three in front of Detroit. The Predators will play the Kings at home on Thursday, travel to Detroit on Friday, and then return home for a day game with Vancouver on Sunday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Game Preview: Predators Return to Face Oilers
The Nashville Predators (33-23-5) return from the Olympic break to face the Edmonton Oilers (19-36-6) in the newly named Bridgestone Arena tonight at 7 p.m. CST.
In many ways this game is similar to a start of a season as you have had six (now seven) players coming off an intense Olympic experience and the rest off of "Spring Break."
Basically, it is a "new" team coming back together for the first time. The Olympic experience changed the ones that were there while the others checked out from hockey for a few days. Therefore it is difficult to impart trends from before the break to tonight's game.
To complicate things, the two squads pulled of a trade yesterday where the Preds received Denis Grebeshkov in exchange for a second round pick in this summers NHL Entry Draft. Also, Ryan Jones was place on waivers this morning so he will not be a part of the team tonight.
The latest word from John Glennon at the morning skate is that Grebeshkov may or may not play due to immigration issues. If he doesn't, Franson will be the sixth defenseman. Also, as a reminder, Dan Hamhuis is still a Predator as I write and is expected to play tonight.
The Predators also practiced with the retro line of Arnott, Dumont, and Sullivan on Monday so again, this is like a return to the start of the season. Glennon list the lines as follows:
Sullivan-Arnott-Dumont
Erat-Goc-Hornqvist
Smithson-Legwand-Ward
Wilson-O’Reilly-Tootoo
Belak will be a scratch as will a couple of defensman.
The recently re-signed Pekka Rinne (20-12-4, 2.80, .902) will be in net for the Preds while Edmonton will start Jeff Deslauriers (12-21-3, 3.19, .900).
Predator's Keys to the Game
Don't Start the Second Half with a "Trap" Game...
As hard as it is to imagine, this game has all the makings of a "trap" game even though the Preds haven't played in two weeks. Edmonton has been horrible and the Preds have a long string of games coming up against Western Conference contenders that will be key to a successful Pred's run for the playoffs.
The Preds were very mediocre against other poor team like Carolina and Toronto before the break and I'm sure the Oliers will be charged up to leave the pre-break horror story behind and will want to play at least .500 for the rest of the season. The Preds can not overlook the intensity that they will bring.
The Olympics Are Over...
The Predators will have seven players in the locker room tonight who have excelled on the world stage over the last two weeks. Weber and Suter have been treated as near immortal by the press which is not something they have not seen in Nashville. There will be big doings with the medals which will bring further distractions.
All of them need to put the Olympic experience behind them and be ready to show up and play as Nashville Predators, not as a national hero. I hope that Suter and Weber do find the level of intense play that we saw in the tournament back to the rink with them.
Pekka, It's Your Time...
The Predators have opened the wallet and clearly made Pekka Rinne their number one goalie for at least the next two years. Pekka admitted that it does bring additional pressure and that he embraces the challenge. Therefore, we need to see the Pekka of last year going full out for the better part of the next 21 games. He needs to reclaim ownership of the net.
He should be pushed by Dan Ellis who now knows that he has 21 games to play for a new contract where he can get a shot at being a number one goalie.
Up Next...
The Preds play the Kings at home on Thursday and the Wings on Friday in Detroit before returning home for a Sunday afternoon game against Vancouver. It doesn't get any easier after that so basically every game is a playoff game from here on out.
More later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
In many ways this game is similar to a start of a season as you have had six (now seven) players coming off an intense Olympic experience and the rest off of "Spring Break."
Basically, it is a "new" team coming back together for the first time. The Olympic experience changed the ones that were there while the others checked out from hockey for a few days. Therefore it is difficult to impart trends from before the break to tonight's game.
To complicate things, the two squads pulled of a trade yesterday where the Preds received Denis Grebeshkov in exchange for a second round pick in this summers NHL Entry Draft. Also, Ryan Jones was place on waivers this morning so he will not be a part of the team tonight.
The latest word from John Glennon at the morning skate is that Grebeshkov may or may not play due to immigration issues. If he doesn't, Franson will be the sixth defenseman. Also, as a reminder, Dan Hamhuis is still a Predator as I write and is expected to play tonight.
The Predators also practiced with the retro line of Arnott, Dumont, and Sullivan on Monday so again, this is like a return to the start of the season. Glennon list the lines as follows:
Sullivan-Arnott-Dumont
Erat-Goc-Hornqvist
Smithson-Legwand-Ward
Wilson-O’Reilly-Tootoo
Belak will be a scratch as will a couple of defensman.
The recently re-signed Pekka Rinne (20-12-4, 2.80, .902) will be in net for the Preds while Edmonton will start Jeff Deslauriers (12-21-3, 3.19, .900).
Predator's Keys to the Game
Don't Start the Second Half with a "Trap" Game...
As hard as it is to imagine, this game has all the makings of a "trap" game even though the Preds haven't played in two weeks. Edmonton has been horrible and the Preds have a long string of games coming up against Western Conference contenders that will be key to a successful Pred's run for the playoffs.
The Preds were very mediocre against other poor team like Carolina and Toronto before the break and I'm sure the Oliers will be charged up to leave the pre-break horror story behind and will want to play at least .500 for the rest of the season. The Preds can not overlook the intensity that they will bring.
The Olympics Are Over...
The Predators will have seven players in the locker room tonight who have excelled on the world stage over the last two weeks. Weber and Suter have been treated as near immortal by the press which is not something they have not seen in Nashville. There will be big doings with the medals which will bring further distractions.
All of them need to put the Olympic experience behind them and be ready to show up and play as Nashville Predators, not as a national hero. I hope that Suter and Weber do find the level of intense play that we saw in the tournament back to the rink with them.
Pekka, It's Your Time...
The Predators have opened the wallet and clearly made Pekka Rinne their number one goalie for at least the next two years. Pekka admitted that it does bring additional pressure and that he embraces the challenge. Therefore, we need to see the Pekka of last year going full out for the better part of the next 21 games. He needs to reclaim ownership of the net.
He should be pushed by Dan Ellis who now knows that he has 21 games to play for a new contract where he can get a shot at being a number one goalie.
Up Next...
The Preds play the Kings at home on Thursday and the Wings on Friday in Detroit before returning home for a Sunday afternoon game against Vancouver. It doesn't get any easier after that so basically every game is a playoff game from here on out.
More later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Game Recap: Preds Survive Oiler Charge and Win 5-3
The Nashville Predators started with an intense first period, jumping out to a 3-0 lead, and then played out the rest of the game in average fashion to complete a 5-3 victory and move to fourth place in the Western Conference with 59 points.
The Preds were led in scoring by Ryan Jones who had a goal and two assists. Patric Hornqvist had the game winner along with an assist. Shea Weber, Marcel Goc, and J. P. Dumont all had a goal and an assist to round out the Predator scoring.
Edmonton had goals from Jean-Francois Jacques, Ryan Potulny, and Dustin Penner.
Pekka Rinne held on for the win in net, stopping 38 of 41 shots from the Edmonton barrage.
The Predators got off to the quick start that they needed to insure that Edmonton did not gain confidence and that the victory starved Oiler crowd did not have an opportunity to get into the game.
The Preds broke through quickly at 4:49 when they were working the puck thought the offensive zone when Ryan Jones passed the puck to Shea Weber near the blue line who fired the puck past Jeff Deslauriers to give the Predators an early 1-0 lead.
Before the crowd settled back into their seats, the Predators were back on the move near the Oiler net. Patric Hornqvist moved the puck out to the point to Shea Weber who unloaded again. Marcel Goc picked up the rebound and quickly back-handed it into the net to give the Preds a 2-0 lead.
At 19:02 the Predators continued to work the zone and Kevin Klein fired the puck at the net and missed. Ryan Jones deflected the puck to J P Dumont behind the net who made a wrap-around move to slip the puck into the right side of the net past Deslauriers again to bring the score to 3-0 to end the period.
The Oilers out shot the Predators 13-11 in the first period but the difference was Pekka Rinne who was perfect in net. The Preds led on the Corsi side 23-22 and appeared to be far more aggressive during the initial period. There were no penalties on either team.
The Predators continued their aggressive play when Patic Hornqvist picked up his team leading 18th goal at 6:40 on a quick wrister with an assist going to Marcel Goc to give the Preds a 4-0 lead. The goal brought an end to the evening for Jeff Deslauriers who was replaced by Devan Dubnyk. For the game, Deslauriers stopped 10 of 14 shots.
Dubnyk finished the period stopping the only three shots the Preds had. For the Period the Oilers out shot the Preds 16-6. The margin was an even more lopsided 28-13 on Corsi shots as Edmonton was desperately trying to get back into the game as the Predator defense was becoming increasingly lackadaisical.
The Predators did not regain their early intensity as the third period started. At 7:20 into the period Pekka Rinne's shut out was spoiled on a goal by Jean-Francois Jacques after a defensive break down in front of the net.
At 10:43, the Preds appeared to have regained a four point margin on a tip by J. P. Dumont, but the goal was waived off and confirmed by video review as no goal.
At 13:02 Patric Hornqvist was called for slashing which led to an Oiler power play goal by Ryan Potulny at 14:29 that drew Edmonton within two at 4-2.
Thirty seconds later Ethan Moreau was called for hooking to put the Preds on the man advantage. As time expired on the power play Ryan Jones took a pass through the slot from J. P. Dumont and poked it past Dubynk to give the Preds a 5-3 lead.
As the period wound down, the play got sloppier and Marty Erat was called for hooking at 18:49. At 19:26, as the Preds tried to kill the penalty, they received a bench minor for too many men on the ice giving the Oilers a five on three advantage. With 21 seconds left, Dustin Penner scored the power play goal to make the final score 5-3.
Storylines From The Game
Predators Win Despite an Uneven Effort...
The Predators started like gang-busters on offense and defense but seemed to get away from what they were doing so successfully in the first period as Edmonton came on strong in the final two periods and out shot the Preds 41-28 for the game. The Preds only had six shots in the second period. You had a feeling at the end that if the game had a few extra minutes that the Oilers would have had a chance to win.
Contributions From A Wide Variety of Players...
After playing an intense game in Vancouver 22 1/2 hours earlier, Barry Trotz shortened the shifts and gave additional playing time to several Preds who have not seen many shifts recently. Wade Belak, Andreas Thuresson and Nick Spalling almost cracked the 10 minute mark as their line saw several additional shifts. Shots were disbursed evenly throughout the line-up as all but three skaters were credited with shots and one of the three, Kevin Klein, had an assist on a first period goal.
Pekka Rinne Outstanding in Net...
For the second night in a row, the Predators received a quality effort in net, this time from Pekka Rinne. As the Pred defense lost intensity, Rinne's game improved as he faced 41 Oiler shots. There were plenty of other shots near the net as Edmonton fired 81 Corsi shots, not allowing Rinne any room to breath. His first star of the game honor was well deserved.
Up Next...
The Preds will spend the night in Edmonton before departing for Calgary on Wednesday and participating in team building activities as they take a day off before returning to practice on Thursday to prepare for Friday's road trip finale at Calgary.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Preds were led in scoring by Ryan Jones who had a goal and two assists. Patric Hornqvist had the game winner along with an assist. Shea Weber, Marcel Goc, and J. P. Dumont all had a goal and an assist to round out the Predator scoring.
Edmonton had goals from Jean-Francois Jacques, Ryan Potulny, and Dustin Penner.
Pekka Rinne held on for the win in net, stopping 38 of 41 shots from the Edmonton barrage.
The Predators got off to the quick start that they needed to insure that Edmonton did not gain confidence and that the victory starved Oiler crowd did not have an opportunity to get into the game.
The Preds broke through quickly at 4:49 when they were working the puck thought the offensive zone when Ryan Jones passed the puck to Shea Weber near the blue line who fired the puck past Jeff Deslauriers to give the Predators an early 1-0 lead.
Before the crowd settled back into their seats, the Predators were back on the move near the Oiler net. Patric Hornqvist moved the puck out to the point to Shea Weber who unloaded again. Marcel Goc picked up the rebound and quickly back-handed it into the net to give the Preds a 2-0 lead.
At 19:02 the Predators continued to work the zone and Kevin Klein fired the puck at the net and missed. Ryan Jones deflected the puck to J P Dumont behind the net who made a wrap-around move to slip the puck into the right side of the net past Deslauriers again to bring the score to 3-0 to end the period.
The Oilers out shot the Predators 13-11 in the first period but the difference was Pekka Rinne who was perfect in net. The Preds led on the Corsi side 23-22 and appeared to be far more aggressive during the initial period. There were no penalties on either team.
The Predators continued their aggressive play when Patic Hornqvist picked up his team leading 18th goal at 6:40 on a quick wrister with an assist going to Marcel Goc to give the Preds a 4-0 lead. The goal brought an end to the evening for Jeff Deslauriers who was replaced by Devan Dubnyk. For the game, Deslauriers stopped 10 of 14 shots.
Dubnyk finished the period stopping the only three shots the Preds had. For the Period the Oilers out shot the Preds 16-6. The margin was an even more lopsided 28-13 on Corsi shots as Edmonton was desperately trying to get back into the game as the Predator defense was becoming increasingly lackadaisical.
The Predators did not regain their early intensity as the third period started. At 7:20 into the period Pekka Rinne's shut out was spoiled on a goal by Jean-Francois Jacques after a defensive break down in front of the net.
At 10:43, the Preds appeared to have regained a four point margin on a tip by J. P. Dumont, but the goal was waived off and confirmed by video review as no goal.
At 13:02 Patric Hornqvist was called for slashing which led to an Oiler power play goal by Ryan Potulny at 14:29 that drew Edmonton within two at 4-2.
Thirty seconds later Ethan Moreau was called for hooking to put the Preds on the man advantage. As time expired on the power play Ryan Jones took a pass through the slot from J. P. Dumont and poked it past Dubynk to give the Preds a 5-3 lead.
As the period wound down, the play got sloppier and Marty Erat was called for hooking at 18:49. At 19:26, as the Preds tried to kill the penalty, they received a bench minor for too many men on the ice giving the Oilers a five on three advantage. With 21 seconds left, Dustin Penner scored the power play goal to make the final score 5-3.
Storylines From The Game
Predators Win Despite an Uneven Effort...
The Predators started like gang-busters on offense and defense but seemed to get away from what they were doing so successfully in the first period as Edmonton came on strong in the final two periods and out shot the Preds 41-28 for the game. The Preds only had six shots in the second period. You had a feeling at the end that if the game had a few extra minutes that the Oilers would have had a chance to win.
Contributions From A Wide Variety of Players...
After playing an intense game in Vancouver 22 1/2 hours earlier, Barry Trotz shortened the shifts and gave additional playing time to several Preds who have not seen many shifts recently. Wade Belak, Andreas Thuresson and Nick Spalling almost cracked the 10 minute mark as their line saw several additional shifts. Shots were disbursed evenly throughout the line-up as all but three skaters were credited with shots and one of the three, Kevin Klein, had an assist on a first period goal.
Pekka Rinne Outstanding in Net...
For the second night in a row, the Predators received a quality effort in net, this time from Pekka Rinne. As the Pred defense lost intensity, Rinne's game improved as he faced 41 Oiler shots. There were plenty of other shots near the net as Edmonton fired 81 Corsi shots, not allowing Rinne any room to breath. His first star of the game honor was well deserved.
Up Next...
The Preds will spend the night in Edmonton before departing for Calgary on Wednesday and participating in team building activities as they take a day off before returning to practice on Thursday to prepare for Friday's road trip finale at Calgary.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Game Preview: Preds Head East to Edmonton
Riding the crest of a somewhat unexpected win against Vancouver on Monday, the Nashville Predators (27-16-3) head east to Edmonton (16-23-5) to take on the Oilers tonight.
The Preds beat the Canucks 3-2 in an awkward game that featured uneven officiating at both ends of the ice and now has the potential to shake the world of the NHL with allegations from Alexander Burrows that Stephane Auger had an ax to grind against him for his embellishment after a hit on Jerred Smithson at a game in Nashville in December.
In contrast to playing last night, the Oliers have had an extended period between games with their last contest being last Thursday when they lost to the Blue Jackets 4-2 at Rexall Place.
This will be Nashville's last game in Edmonton this season. On December 17, the Preds fell behind quickly but rallied to a 6-3 victory. The Preds lost to the Oilers 6-1 in Nashville in an early season meeting on October 12. The Oilers will play again in Nashville on March 2 to end the year's series.
The Oilers are last in the Western Conference and have only gained three points in their last 12 games (1-10-1).
Despite having been pulled in both prior meetings with the Oilers, Pekka Rinne (17-8-2, 2.73, .906) will start in goal for the Predators. It is expected that Jeff Deslauriers (9-12-3, 2.95, .903) will start for the Oilers.
Pred's Keys To The Game
Back to Back Sixty Minute Efforts Needed...
After playing a top team in a grueling contest for sixty minutes last night, it would be natural to expect a lesser effort this evening. The Oilers are well rested and may be ready to strike if they receive any thoughts early that they can be competitive. The Preds have not been their best with quick starts this year especially, in back to back games so they need to be mindful to set the tone early and get on the scoreboard first.
Do Not Play to the Opponent's Level...
Throughout franchise history, the Predtors have often played down to the level of the opponent. So many big wins over the rival Red Wings have been followed with lackluster performances against teams that should be an easier opponent. Last week against the Carolina, the Preds played evenly with the Hurricanes and were unable to find a higher gear in a game that should have not been a contest.
Pekka Needs to Avoid Another Oiler Letdown...
In two games this year, Pekka has been pulled early, neither of which was necessarily his fault as the defense provided little assistance.. When the Oilers went up 2-0 quickly in December, Barry Trotz pulled Pekka in order to get the team's attention and it worked well as they ended up winning 6-3. Career-wise,Pekka is 3-1 against the Oilers and needs a quality game to pad his record tonight.
Up Next...
The Preds will participate in an undisclosed "Team Building" day on Wednesday before heading to Calgary to finish up the road trip on Friday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Preds beat the Canucks 3-2 in an awkward game that featured uneven officiating at both ends of the ice and now has the potential to shake the world of the NHL with allegations from Alexander Burrows that Stephane Auger had an ax to grind against him for his embellishment after a hit on Jerred Smithson at a game in Nashville in December.
In contrast to playing last night, the Oliers have had an extended period between games with their last contest being last Thursday when they lost to the Blue Jackets 4-2 at Rexall Place.
This will be Nashville's last game in Edmonton this season. On December 17, the Preds fell behind quickly but rallied to a 6-3 victory. The Preds lost to the Oilers 6-1 in Nashville in an early season meeting on October 12. The Oilers will play again in Nashville on March 2 to end the year's series.
The Oilers are last in the Western Conference and have only gained three points in their last 12 games (1-10-1).
Despite having been pulled in both prior meetings with the Oilers, Pekka Rinne (17-8-2, 2.73, .906) will start in goal for the Predators. It is expected that Jeff Deslauriers (9-12-3, 2.95, .903) will start for the Oilers.
Pred's Keys To The Game
Back to Back Sixty Minute Efforts Needed...
After playing a top team in a grueling contest for sixty minutes last night, it would be natural to expect a lesser effort this evening. The Oilers are well rested and may be ready to strike if they receive any thoughts early that they can be competitive. The Preds have not been their best with quick starts this year especially, in back to back games so they need to be mindful to set the tone early and get on the scoreboard first.
Do Not Play to the Opponent's Level...
Throughout franchise history, the Predtors have often played down to the level of the opponent. So many big wins over the rival Red Wings have been followed with lackluster performances against teams that should be an easier opponent. Last week against the Carolina, the Preds played evenly with the Hurricanes and were unable to find a higher gear in a game that should have not been a contest.
Pekka Needs to Avoid Another Oiler Letdown...
In two games this year, Pekka has been pulled early, neither of which was necessarily his fault as the defense provided little assistance.. When the Oilers went up 2-0 quickly in December, Barry Trotz pulled Pekka in order to get the team's attention and it worked well as they ended up winning 6-3. Career-wise,Pekka is 3-1 against the Oilers and needs a quality game to pad his record tonight.
Up Next...
The Preds will participate in an undisclosed "Team Building" day on Wednesday before heading to Calgary to finish up the road trip on Friday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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