All good things must come to an end and the Predators six game win streak did just that last night with the Preds losing 3-2 to the Florida Panthers,
Now the big question is whether the Preds will rebound on Saturday against the Hawks or head into another losing streak which is what has been the rule this season.
The Preds have only one regulation loss that has not been included in a pair of five game losing streaks and a four gamer, so it is critical to bounce back and not fall into the same routine again.
The Preds play the Blackhawks at the Bridgestone Arena tomorrow night and then have the last long tough stretch of road games of the season that starts in Chicago on Sunday. The Preds travel to Phoenix, Colorado, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver before being off for the all-star break.
After this road swing, the Predators will play 21 of the last 32 games at home and have only one four game road trip remaining. Every other roadie is a one game out an back trip.
Last night's loss left the Predators with a 23-14-6 record and combined with Phoenix's 5-1 win over Toronto, dropped Nashville to fifth place in the Western Conference.
Preds-Panthers Wrap-Up...
Here is our sad game story from last night.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column, and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton and Hockey Night in Nashville.
From South Florida comes much happier stories from The Sun Sentinel, The Rat Trick, The Miami Herald, On Frozen Pond, and Litter Box Cats.
In Pred Nation...
ESPN talked to Barry Trotz and has high praise. There's also a note that says Steve Sullivan is out until the All-Star break.
Good is the enemy of the great according to this story by Jay Levin about the Predators organization.
J.R. Lind takes a look at Southern hockey and the influence that the Preds have had in the area.
Section 303 has a look at this weekend's UAH - Merrimack College Hockey games at the Bridgestone tonight and Saturday afternoon. Amanda DiPaolo also reports on the pair of games.
Dirk Hoag has the mid-season review of the Predators forwards. He is a tough grader.
Pete Weber talked Western Conference on XM's Hockey this Morning. Listen here.
Matt Lombardi is feeling better but there is no date for a return since he can not exercise.
The Milwaukee Admirals' four game win streak came to an end in Winnipeg last night when they lost to the Manitoba Moose 3-0.
Ex-Pred Ryan Parent is featured in a story at the Winnipeg Sun.
The 6th Sens looks at the Preds' Paul Fenton as a GM candidate.
Around the NHL...
One of the more idiotic things that the NHL has done lately is fining the Leafs for Ron Wilson putting money on the wall to incentivise his team to beat his former employer. It sounds like they have taken a page out of the NCAA recruiting manual.
Ryan Porth looks at four teams in mid-season crossroads.
Here is an interesting flowchart explaining Alexander Ovechkin's season.
Dwayne Roloson is getting a new mask after donning a plane white one with a few lightning logos on it in his shut out of the Caps on Wednesday.
Here are 10 questions for the second half of the season from ESPN.
Mirtle has his list of the top 30 defensive forwards that includes a pare of Preds as you would imagine.
AOL FanHouse has made a deal to use content from The Sporting News. At this point, it is unclear how their specific original content providers will be affected.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Fabian Brunnstrom from Dallas in exchange for prospect Mikhail Stefanovich who is playing in the KHL. For a guy that has never panned out in a non-traditional market, I can't believe he'll do better in Toronto.
The guys at Kingscast are frustrated and looking for answers in Episode 86.
Will pork steaks lead Kyle Wellwood to St Louis? Possibly.
Odds and Ends...
This article discusses "teamwork" in the future. I have always hated the "team" concept in corporate America. Most times you end up with a compromise outcome which appeases everyone but is not necessarily the best way to proceed.
Here are ten games that started being called something other than what they are known as today.
It's not too late to attend Derby 101 to see if you have what it takes to be a RollerGirl.
If you are in to Astrology, everything has changed. You aren't what you think you are.
Wouldn't you know if your girlfriend was dead when you were having relations? Something doesn't add up here.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Showing posts with label nashville predators florida panthers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nashville predators florida panthers. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Florida Ends Nashville's Streak with a 3-2 Win
The excitement of the Nashville Predators six game winning streak came to an abrupt halt at the Bank Atlantic Center on Thursday night at the hands of the Florida Panther who forged a 3-2 victory.
The Panthers came from behind to win on a late goal by David Booth. The Predators mounted an attack late but were unable to overcome an entire game of listless hockey.
Florida's other goals came from Radek Dvorak and Rostislav Olesz who also had an assist to complete a two-point night. Predator goals came from David Legwand and Colin Wilson.
Prior to the game, Ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun was upset with the decision to start Scott Clemmensen but it proved to be the right choice as he stopped 27 of 29 Nashville shots. Pekka Rinne gave up three goals on 34 shots in the loss.
The game did not start well for the Predators. At 3:22 in the first period, the Preds had a major blunder trying to move the puck through the neutral none. Cory Stillman stole the puck and sent it to Marty Reasoner who passed to Dvorak who made the shot from Rinne's right to give the Panthers and early 1-0 lead.
The Predators continued to look out of sync but did manage to tie the game 1-1 at 10:50 when David Legwand found Wilson in front of the Panther net where he was able to connect on his 11th goal of the season.
The Panthers out shot the Preds 13-10 and led the Corsi 15-13 and generally outplayed Nashville in a period where the Preds never seemed to hit on all cylinders and had trouble controlling the puck.
The second period brought more of the same disjointed play that had been common earlier in the game. The teams each had two minor penalties but neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage. Florida out shot the Preds 11-7 and again led the Corsi 18-13 in the period.
The Predators took the lead at 10:02 in the third when Legwand skated in on the left side and fired a shot from the dot in the face off circle that found its way past Clemmenson to put the Preds up 2-1.
The Predators poor performance caught up with them at 13:34 in the third when there was confusion in front of the net and Olesz was able to sneak the puck into the net on a rebound to tie the game 2-2.
The situation deteriorated further at 15:48 when Booth put a shot past Rinne to put the Panthers ahead 3-2.
With 1:39 left, the Predators pulled Rinne from the net to give Nashville an extra attacker and the Preds played some of the most inspired hockey of the evening. With 12.1 seconds left the Predators tried to lobby for a goal but the whistle had blown.
Playing desperate hockey at the end, the Preds out shot Florida 12-10 and went wild on the Corsi leading 26-15 for the final period.
Shea Weber's assist on Legwand's goal extended his point streak to seven games which is the longest in his career. He has has two goals and nine assists during the streak.
The Predators returned home after the game and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in back to back games in Nashville on Saturday and in Chicago on Sunday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
The Panthers came from behind to win on a late goal by David Booth. The Predators mounted an attack late but were unable to overcome an entire game of listless hockey.
Florida's other goals came from Radek Dvorak and Rostislav Olesz who also had an assist to complete a two-point night. Predator goals came from David Legwand and Colin Wilson.
Prior to the game, Ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun was upset with the decision to start Scott Clemmensen but it proved to be the right choice as he stopped 27 of 29 Nashville shots. Pekka Rinne gave up three goals on 34 shots in the loss.
The game did not start well for the Predators. At 3:22 in the first period, the Preds had a major blunder trying to move the puck through the neutral none. Cory Stillman stole the puck and sent it to Marty Reasoner who passed to Dvorak who made the shot from Rinne's right to give the Panthers and early 1-0 lead.
The Predators continued to look out of sync but did manage to tie the game 1-1 at 10:50 when David Legwand found Wilson in front of the Panther net where he was able to connect on his 11th goal of the season.
The Panthers out shot the Preds 13-10 and led the Corsi 15-13 and generally outplayed Nashville in a period where the Preds never seemed to hit on all cylinders and had trouble controlling the puck.
The second period brought more of the same disjointed play that had been common earlier in the game. The teams each had two minor penalties but neither team was able to capitalize on the man advantage. Florida out shot the Preds 11-7 and again led the Corsi 18-13 in the period.
The Predators took the lead at 10:02 in the third when Legwand skated in on the left side and fired a shot from the dot in the face off circle that found its way past Clemmenson to put the Preds up 2-1.
The Predators poor performance caught up with them at 13:34 in the third when there was confusion in front of the net and Olesz was able to sneak the puck into the net on a rebound to tie the game 2-2.
The situation deteriorated further at 15:48 when Booth put a shot past Rinne to put the Panthers ahead 3-2.
With 1:39 left, the Predators pulled Rinne from the net to give Nashville an extra attacker and the Preds played some of the most inspired hockey of the evening. With 12.1 seconds left the Predators tried to lobby for a goal but the whistle had blown.
Playing desperate hockey at the end, the Preds out shot Florida 12-10 and went wild on the Corsi leading 26-15 for the final period.
Shea Weber's assist on Legwand's goal extended his point streak to seven games which is the longest in his career. He has has two goals and nine assists during the streak.
The Predators returned home after the game and will face the Chicago Blackhawks in back to back games in Nashville on Saturday and in Chicago on Sunday.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Predators Hope to Avoid Panthers' Trap and Thursday Thoughts
The Nashville Predators (23-13-6) take their current six game win streak into South Florida to meet the Panthers (19-20-2) at the Bank Atlantic Center at 6:30 p.m. tonight.
This is a classic "trap game" for the Predators who can not afford to stumble against a weaker team from the Eastern Conference. With a win tonight, only Pittsburgh (12) and Vancouver (8) would have longer winning streaks this season.
Coach Barry Trotz is well aware of the "trap" nature of this match, "The Florida game is real big. They play honest hockey. They are really on the puck hard, they have great effort, and great goaltending with Tomas Vokoun. They are a dangerous team."
The two teams met on December 11th at the Bridgestone Arena and Anders Lindback shut out the Panthers 3-0. The Preds' defense worked especially hard down the stretch in that game to give Lindback his first NHL shutout when he only faced 22 shots.
You would think that the Preds would go with Pekka Rinne (13-10-4, 2.11, .928) in goal but there is an outside chance that Lindback (10-3-2, 2.36, .922) could return since he had success previously. Likewise, ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun (16-15-1, 2.56, .922) has gotten the bulk of the starts for the Panthers but back-up Scott Clemmensen (3-5-1, 9.21, .921) has had solid starts recently.
Update from @davidlasseter: looks like Clemmensen tonight in goal tonight. He's been pretty darn good this year.
The Predators' tandem of Rinne and Lindback have risen to second in the league in goals allowed per game at 2.29, trailing only Boston at 2.10.
According to reports yesterday, Marty Erat will not travel to Florida but could be close to playing this weekend. None of the other injured Predators are close to a return.
The Predators enter the game tonight in fourth place in the Western Conference with 52 points. They need a win tonight to stay ahead of the pack that has eight teams within six points of Nashville.
The Preds will return home after the game and play a back to back, home and away match with Chicago on Saturday and Sunday before heading west for five more road games to finish up the pre-all-star game slate. Twenty-one of the last 32 Preds games will be on home ice.
Other pre-game stories come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, Hockey Night in Nashville, and Predators.com.
From South Florida, game previews come from The Sun Sentinel, The Rat Trick, The Miami Herald, On Frozen Pond, and Litter Box Cats.
In Pred Nation...
Kevin Allen talked to David Poile about Sergei Kostitsyn and his breakout year in Nashville.
Bryan Mullen discusses David Legwand's offensiveness since his return from injury.
Jeremy Gover analyzes the Predators tough defensive efforts this season at Section 303.
Jim Diamond previews the college games between University of Alabama-Huntsville and Merrimack College set for the Bridgestone Arena on Friday night and Saturday afternoon before the Predators game.
James Mirtle had his mid-season look at the NHL's top defensive defensemen. Guess which three teams have two each in the top ten.
Paul McCann puts the wrap on the Wild game and has a new edition of SlapShot Radio up on podcast.
The Predators announced that Fifth Third Bank has become the official bank of the Preds in a release yesterday.
Puck and Punk has positive things to say about a couple of NHL Guardians after panning the first few.
Dirk Hoag found a translatable article that indicates that former Pred (x2) Jonas Andersson is headed back to the KHL.
Around the NHL...
The Penguins made their first comment on Sidney Crosby prior to last night's 5-2 win over the Habs and he is not symptom-free and there is no timetable for a return. Bobby Ryan had a hat trick and an assist as the Ducks beat the Blues 7-4. The Avs took the night off, losing 4-0 to Chicago.
There has been no let up in All-Star game criticism. Matt Reitz joins the fray with a few pertinent points. Matt also analyzes the standing for special teams in the NHL. The Preds are about middle of the pack in spite of being third in the league on the PK.
Another shoot out and another bunch of whiners. This time, the Islanders call this move by Mason Raymond a "showoff" move. Once again, had the goalie done his job, it wouldn't be an issue.
Chris Johnson takes a look inside the NHL "war room" and describes the action.
Kevin Allen has an interesting list of first half awards that goes well past the usual suspects.
Patrick Hoffman makes the case for John Tortorella being considered for the Jack Adams this year.
Interesting note on the All-Star game from @cotsonika: NHL approached Zetterberg about ASG. He has had a sore back lately and been ambivalent about the game before. League honored his feelings.
Eklund takes a look at the pros and cons of killing the All-Star game.
Puck Daddy has each team's biggest disappointment at mid-season. He is on target with the Predators' choice.
Gary Bettman spoke his mind at a recent pit stop in San Jose. Here is what he had to say.
Steve Lapore has the numbers for the Versus games from December. He also has the most/least watched games of the first half. One look at the numbers and you see why NBC chooses the games they do for Sunday afternoons.
Odds and Ends...
More revelations in the Jenn Sterger-Brett Farve matter indicates that Sterger called out NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last month pointing out that she didn't think he would do anything and she was right.
This is great news. The old Polk Theater in my hometown of Columbia may be resurrected as an arts center.
Finally, this sounds like something that Dwight Schrute dreamed up. The State of Tennessee is having a conference promoting agritourism.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
This is a classic "trap game" for the Predators who can not afford to stumble against a weaker team from the Eastern Conference. With a win tonight, only Pittsburgh (12) and Vancouver (8) would have longer winning streaks this season.
Coach Barry Trotz is well aware of the "trap" nature of this match, "The Florida game is real big. They play honest hockey. They are really on the puck hard, they have great effort, and great goaltending with Tomas Vokoun. They are a dangerous team."
The two teams met on December 11th at the Bridgestone Arena and Anders Lindback shut out the Panthers 3-0. The Preds' defense worked especially hard down the stretch in that game to give Lindback his first NHL shutout when he only faced 22 shots.
You would think that the Preds would go with Pekka Rinne (13-10-4, 2.11, .928) in goal but there is an outside chance that Lindback (10-3-2, 2.36, .922) could return since he had success previously. Likewise, ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun (16-15-1, 2.56, .922) has gotten the bulk of the starts for the Panthers but back-up Scott Clemmensen (3-5-1, 9.21, .921) has had solid starts recently.
Update from @davidlasseter: looks like Clemmensen tonight in goal tonight. He's been pretty darn good this year.
The Predators' tandem of Rinne and Lindback have risen to second in the league in goals allowed per game at 2.29, trailing only Boston at 2.10.
According to reports yesterday, Marty Erat will not travel to Florida but could be close to playing this weekend. None of the other injured Predators are close to a return.
The Predators enter the game tonight in fourth place in the Western Conference with 52 points. They need a win tonight to stay ahead of the pack that has eight teams within six points of Nashville.
The Preds will return home after the game and play a back to back, home and away match with Chicago on Saturday and Sunday before heading west for five more road games to finish up the pre-all-star game slate. Twenty-one of the last 32 Preds games will be on home ice.
Other pre-game stories come from Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, Hockey Night in Nashville, and Predators.com.
From South Florida, game previews come from The Sun Sentinel, The Rat Trick, The Miami Herald, On Frozen Pond, and Litter Box Cats.
In Pred Nation...
Kevin Allen talked to David Poile about Sergei Kostitsyn and his breakout year in Nashville.
Bryan Mullen discusses David Legwand's offensiveness since his return from injury.
Jeremy Gover analyzes the Predators tough defensive efforts this season at Section 303.
Jim Diamond previews the college games between University of Alabama-Huntsville and Merrimack College set for the Bridgestone Arena on Friday night and Saturday afternoon before the Predators game.
James Mirtle had his mid-season look at the NHL's top defensive defensemen. Guess which three teams have two each in the top ten.
Paul McCann puts the wrap on the Wild game and has a new edition of SlapShot Radio up on podcast.
The Predators announced that Fifth Third Bank has become the official bank of the Preds in a release yesterday.
Puck and Punk has positive things to say about a couple of NHL Guardians after panning the first few.
Dirk Hoag found a translatable article that indicates that former Pred (x2) Jonas Andersson is headed back to the KHL.
Around the NHL...
The Penguins made their first comment on Sidney Crosby prior to last night's 5-2 win over the Habs and he is not symptom-free and there is no timetable for a return. Bobby Ryan had a hat trick and an assist as the Ducks beat the Blues 7-4. The Avs took the night off, losing 4-0 to Chicago.
There has been no let up in All-Star game criticism. Matt Reitz joins the fray with a few pertinent points. Matt also analyzes the standing for special teams in the NHL. The Preds are about middle of the pack in spite of being third in the league on the PK.
Another shoot out and another bunch of whiners. This time, the Islanders call this move by Mason Raymond a "showoff" move. Once again, had the goalie done his job, it wouldn't be an issue.
Chris Johnson takes a look inside the NHL "war room" and describes the action.
Kevin Allen has an interesting list of first half awards that goes well past the usual suspects.
Patrick Hoffman makes the case for John Tortorella being considered for the Jack Adams this year.
Interesting note on the All-Star game from @cotsonika: NHL approached Zetterberg about ASG. He has had a sore back lately and been ambivalent about the game before. League honored his feelings.
Eklund takes a look at the pros and cons of killing the All-Star game.
Puck Daddy has each team's biggest disappointment at mid-season. He is on target with the Predators' choice.
Gary Bettman spoke his mind at a recent pit stop in San Jose. Here is what he had to say.
Steve Lapore has the numbers for the Versus games from December. He also has the most/least watched games of the first half. One look at the numbers and you see why NBC chooses the games they do for Sunday afternoons.
Odds and Ends...
More revelations in the Jenn Sterger-Brett Farve matter indicates that Sterger called out NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last month pointing out that she didn't think he would do anything and she was right.
This is great news. The old Polk Theater in my hometown of Columbia may be resurrected as an arts center.
Finally, this sounds like something that Dwight Schrute dreamed up. The State of Tennessee is having a conference promoting agritourism.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Predators, Lindback Shutout Panthers 3-0
The Nashville Predators avoided any potential letdown after Wednesday's big win over Detroit and shutout the Florida Panthers 3-0 at the Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.
Anders Lindback had his first NHL shutout and improved his record to 6-1-2, stopping all 22 Florida shots. The Panthers did not put much pressure on Lindback until late in the game and the defense played well in front of him.
Barry Trotz spoke highly of the team effort, "The more he plays he is settling in really well. The guys did a good job, very workmanlike, and had a good start tonight. They played very disciplined and wanted to help get him the shutout."
Florida was down 2-0 with a couple of minutes left and pulled their goalie for one last run. Ryan Suter said, "When they called that last time out we said let's bear down for him to get it for him."
Suter was the offensive star of the game getting the Preds first goal 1:14 into the contest and assisting on Shea Weber's goal at the end of the opening period.
The first goal came when Segei Kostitsyn picked up a loose puck and dropped it to Marty Erat who passed it cross ice to Suter who put it past Thomas Vokoun.
Suter explained the play, "It was a good defensive play that turned into a scoring chance and a goal. It was a good pass by Marty to find me."
The second goal was an oddity because Suter skated behind the net as Weber drove toward the net leaving the back end of the Predator defense exposed. Luckily, Suter passed to Weber and he made the goal. "If he (Weber) misses we're in trouble and are going to get yelled at," laughed Suter after the game.
The third goal was an empty net, power play goal from Joel Ward that happened with 54 seconds left in the contest.
Lindback was almost giddy after logging his first NHL shutout, "It feels good and to be able to help the team get another win. I got really good help from the D and didn't have to face many chances. They kept shooting from outside and didn't get good chances so you have to hand it to the boys."
If there was a negative to the game, it was in the face off circle where the Predators only won 18 of 47 draws. This was the second time recently where the Preds were poor in the circle after a horrible performance in Atlanta on Monday. Oddly enough, they did well in Detroit on Wednesday.
Jordin Tootoo returned after being a healthy scratch in Detroit. He played an excellent game and laid a crushing, legal blow on Michael Frolik in the first period that resulted in a brief skirmish. Barry Trotz was impressed with Tootoo's return, "He played very well, very detailed and had good jump in his game."
The win gave the Predators 34 points and moved them in a tie with Phoenix for fifth place in the middle of the Western Conference log jam.
The Predators have another trap set for them on Monday when they play the 5-17-5 New York Islanders at 7 p.m. at the Bridgestone Arena.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOntheGlass
Do the Panthers Present a Trap Game for the Predators and Saturday Round-Up
Tonight's game between the Nashville Predators (13-8-6) and the Florida Panthers (13-14-0) presents a dilemma for the recently red hot Preds. The Preds are coming off a huge win against long time rival Detroit and Florida is slipping in town from the lowly regarded South East Division where the Preds are 3-0-2 this year.
This is the type of game that the Preds have struggled with, especially when they don't jump out to an early lead and allow the other team to gain confidence. Florida is coming off a shutout by Tomas Vokoun against the Washington Capitals and have now won three in a row.
The Preds are 8-3-3 since November 7 and do not need to take the Panthers lightly. The Western Conference is jammed up with ten teams between 34 and 31 points. The Preds play four of their next five at home where they are 5-1-5.
Another huge crowd is expected for what has become a Saturday night tradition in Smashville. Here is an interesting tidbit from the Predators...
"Heading into Saturday’s game, Bridgestone Arena has been sold out four times through 11 home games. A sellout against the Panthers (in game 12) would tie the fastest to five sellouts in franchise history (attained in 1999-2000). The second fastest was 22 home games in 1998-99 and in 2000-01). The Preds’ four sellouts in the first nine home games of 2010-11 marked the fasted to four full houses in club history, trumping the previous record which was set in 1999-2000."
If you don't have tickets, there are less than 1000 left so you need to plan accordingly.
As for the game itself, this is the third year in a row that the Preds and Panthers have played home and away series. All time the Preds are 6-6-(3)-0 against the Panthers but have won four of five since 2007. The Preds have won every game at home against the Cats since October 27, 2000.
The goalie match up will be Tomas Vokoun (11-10-0, 2.45, .921) against Anders Lindback (5-1-2, 2.64, .919). It pits the first Pred goalie to supplant a starting goalie against the latest version of the same thing due to Pekka Rinne's injury.
The Predators penalty kill got back on track against Detroit after having their 37 kill streak broken on Monday in Atlanta. The Preds are ranked 6th (85.4) in the league in the PK while Florida is 8th (84.9). Both teams are abysmal on the power play with the Preds at 28th (11.1) and the Cats in dead last (8.4).
The Predators will again be without David Legwand who mad a two period cameo appearance on Wednesday after being injured on November 18 in Montreal.
The Predators' next game will be Monday at the Bridgestone Arena against the New York Islanders.
For other previews see Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.
From sunny south Florida the news comes from The Sun Sentinel, The Rat Trick, The Miami Herald, On Frozen Pond, and Litter Box Cats.
In Pred Nation...
Bryan Mullen talked to Pekka Rinne about his injury. He also writes about the Preds expecting to win at home.
Barry Trotz called Tomas Vokoun the Preds' "first big star."
Dirk Hoag takes a deep look at Kevin Klein's statistics to see if he deserves the criticism he receives from many fans.
John Manasso reports about the scrappy Predators at Fox Sports. He also talks Preds goaltending at NHL.com.
Chet Pickard won his first AHL game since last season as Roman Josi had the shootout winner as the Admirals beat Rockford 4-3 last night.
Ex-Pred Nolan Yonkman is battling daily to stick with the Coyotes as the 6/7 defenseman. I hope he is able to stick around because no one has worked harder over the years.
Around the NHL...
The most talked about goal lately was Linus Omark's spin-o-rama shoot out winner against Dan Ellis last night. Ryan Porth has the video clip here. Big Kev addresses the sour grapes coming from the Lightning camp. Dan Ellis thought it was "disrespectful." Really Dan? What about your letting it go in?
On the Winter Classic front, an Old Timers game was announced to be headed by Mario Lemieux and a bunch of other Pens and Caps greats.
As you are reading this the Big Chill at The Big House gets underway at 2 p.m. Central. It is on Fox Central Sports on Charter.
Twenty-three busloads of Nordique fans are invading Long Island tonight to make a point that they need a team. I'm glad they didn't come down here a few years ago.
Aaron Wood has joined the Inside Hockey team and his first post is about hockey working in the desert.
Glendale's mayor is also defending the city's efforts to keep the Coyotes. The lease details were made public last night and the city will cough up $197 to help buyer Matthew Hulsizer make the numbers work to pay the NHL $170 million to close the deal. The City Council vote is Tuesday.
Puck Report takes a 25 game look at the playoff projections. With the west being all clustered together, it doesn't mean much there.
Intent to Blow has an odd story about Alexander Ovechkin pointing to a net size disparity as the reason for Sidney Crosby's success this year.
Odds and Ends...
The Belcourt in Nashville is doing another Sundance remote screening. We went last year and it was a blast. Tickets go on sale to members on 12/13 and to the public on 12/15. January 27 is the date of the show. Nashville will get the Sundance World Premiere of "Letters from the Big Man."
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
This is the type of game that the Preds have struggled with, especially when they don't jump out to an early lead and allow the other team to gain confidence. Florida is coming off a shutout by Tomas Vokoun against the Washington Capitals and have now won three in a row.
The Preds are 8-3-3 since November 7 and do not need to take the Panthers lightly. The Western Conference is jammed up with ten teams between 34 and 31 points. The Preds play four of their next five at home where they are 5-1-5.
Another huge crowd is expected for what has become a Saturday night tradition in Smashville. Here is an interesting tidbit from the Predators...
"Heading into Saturday’s game, Bridgestone Arena has been sold out four times through 11 home games. A sellout against the Panthers (in game 12) would tie the fastest to five sellouts in franchise history (attained in 1999-2000). The second fastest was 22 home games in 1998-99 and in 2000-01). The Preds’ four sellouts in the first nine home games of 2010-11 marked the fasted to four full houses in club history, trumping the previous record which was set in 1999-2000."
If you don't have tickets, there are less than 1000 left so you need to plan accordingly.
As for the game itself, this is the third year in a row that the Preds and Panthers have played home and away series. All time the Preds are 6-6-(3)-0 against the Panthers but have won four of five since 2007. The Preds have won every game at home against the Cats since October 27, 2000.
The goalie match up will be Tomas Vokoun (11-10-0, 2.45, .921) against Anders Lindback (5-1-2, 2.64, .919). It pits the first Pred goalie to supplant a starting goalie against the latest version of the same thing due to Pekka Rinne's injury.
The Predators penalty kill got back on track against Detroit after having their 37 kill streak broken on Monday in Atlanta. The Preds are ranked 6th (85.4) in the league in the PK while Florida is 8th (84.9). Both teams are abysmal on the power play with the Preds at 28th (11.1) and the Cats in dead last (8.4).
The Predators will again be without David Legwand who mad a two period cameo appearance on Wednesday after being injured on November 18 in Montreal.
The Predators' next game will be Monday at the Bridgestone Arena against the New York Islanders.
For other previews see Amanda DiPaolo, Chris Burton, The Tennessean, and Predators.com.
From sunny south Florida the news comes from The Sun Sentinel, The Rat Trick, The Miami Herald, On Frozen Pond, and Litter Box Cats.
In Pred Nation...
Bryan Mullen talked to Pekka Rinne about his injury. He also writes about the Preds expecting to win at home.
Barry Trotz called Tomas Vokoun the Preds' "first big star."
Dirk Hoag takes a deep look at Kevin Klein's statistics to see if he deserves the criticism he receives from many fans.
John Manasso reports about the scrappy Predators at Fox Sports. He also talks Preds goaltending at NHL.com.
Chet Pickard won his first AHL game since last season as Roman Josi had the shootout winner as the Admirals beat Rockford 4-3 last night.
Ex-Pred Nolan Yonkman is battling daily to stick with the Coyotes as the 6/7 defenseman. I hope he is able to stick around because no one has worked harder over the years.
Around the NHL...
The most talked about goal lately was Linus Omark's spin-o-rama shoot out winner against Dan Ellis last night. Ryan Porth has the video clip here. Big Kev addresses the sour grapes coming from the Lightning camp. Dan Ellis thought it was "disrespectful." Really Dan? What about your letting it go in?
On the Winter Classic front, an Old Timers game was announced to be headed by Mario Lemieux and a bunch of other Pens and Caps greats.
As you are reading this the Big Chill at The Big House gets underway at 2 p.m. Central. It is on Fox Central Sports on Charter.
Twenty-three busloads of Nordique fans are invading Long Island tonight to make a point that they need a team. I'm glad they didn't come down here a few years ago.
Aaron Wood has joined the Inside Hockey team and his first post is about hockey working in the desert.
Glendale's mayor is also defending the city's efforts to keep the Coyotes. The lease details were made public last night and the city will cough up $197 to help buyer Matthew Hulsizer make the numbers work to pay the NHL $170 million to close the deal. The City Council vote is Tuesday.
Puck Report takes a 25 game look at the playoff projections. With the west being all clustered together, it doesn't mean much there.
Intent to Blow has an odd story about Alexander Ovechkin pointing to a net size disparity as the reason for Sidney Crosby's success this year.
Odds and Ends...
The Belcourt in Nashville is doing another Sundance remote screening. We went last year and it was a blast. Tickets go on sale to members on 12/13 and to the public on 12/15. January 27 is the date of the show. Nashville will get the Sundance World Premiere of "Letters from the Big Man."
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Predators Officially Announce Prospect Games at Florida
The Predators officially announced the two prospect games against the Florida Panther rookies that will be held at the Savology.com Iceplex in Sunrise, Florida on September 15 and 16.
This had been reported by the Panthers previously. Here is the text of the Pred's release...
PREDATORS PROSPECTS HEAD TO FLORIDA FOR A PAIR OF GAMES SEPTEMBER 15 & 16
Nashville, Tenn. (July 28, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that a team of Nashville Predators prospects will travel to Sunrise, Fla., for a pair of games against Florida Panthers prospects on Sept. 15 (6 p.m. CT) and Sept. 16 (11 a.m. CT) at Saveology.com Iceplex.
This marks the third straight season Predators prospects have played a Southeastern Division opponent during their camp, which starts Sept. 13 with testing. In 2008, they hosted the Atlanta Thrashers for two games at Bridgestone Arena, and in 2009 a team of rookies traveled to Duluth, Ga., for games at the Thrashers practice facility.
Prospects expected to attend the camp include first rounders Jonathon Blum (2007), Chet Pickard (2008), Ryan Ellis (2009) and Austin Watson (2010) and second rounders Blake Geoffrion (2006), Roman Josi (2008) and Charles-Olivier Roussel (2009).
The contests will precede the opening of 2010 Training Camp, which occurs the following day, Sept. 17, with testing and physicals. The Predators’ first day on the ice will be Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Centennial Sportsplex and they will play six preseason contests from Sept. 23-Oct. 3, including three at home (Sept. 23 vs. Carolina, Sept. 25 vs. Washington and Sept. 27 vs. Atlanta).
Individual game tickets for Nashville’s preseason games at the Bridgestone Arena will go on sale in September. For information regarding 2010-11 Nashville Predators tickets, visit nashvillepredators.com.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
This had been reported by the Panthers previously. Here is the text of the Pred's release...
PREDATORS PROSPECTS HEAD TO FLORIDA FOR A PAIR OF GAMES SEPTEMBER 15 & 16
Nashville, Tenn. (July 28, 2010) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that a team of Nashville Predators prospects will travel to Sunrise, Fla., for a pair of games against Florida Panthers prospects on Sept. 15 (6 p.m. CT) and Sept. 16 (11 a.m. CT) at Saveology.com Iceplex.
This marks the third straight season Predators prospects have played a Southeastern Division opponent during their camp, which starts Sept. 13 with testing. In 2008, they hosted the Atlanta Thrashers for two games at Bridgestone Arena, and in 2009 a team of rookies traveled to Duluth, Ga., for games at the Thrashers practice facility.
Prospects expected to attend the camp include first rounders Jonathon Blum (2007), Chet Pickard (2008), Ryan Ellis (2009) and Austin Watson (2010) and second rounders Blake Geoffrion (2006), Roman Josi (2008) and Charles-Olivier Roussel (2009).
The contests will precede the opening of 2010 Training Camp, which occurs the following day, Sept. 17, with testing and physicals. The Predators’ first day on the ice will be Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Centennial Sportsplex and they will play six preseason contests from Sept. 23-Oct. 3, including three at home (Sept. 23 vs. Carolina, Sept. 25 vs. Washington and Sept. 27 vs. Atlanta).
Individual game tickets for Nashville’s preseason games at the Bridgestone Arena will go on sale in September. For information regarding 2010-11 Nashville Predators tickets, visit nashvillepredators.com.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Monday, March 29, 2010
Game Recap: Cube's Goal Gives Preds 3-2 Win in OT
The Nashville Predators came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime at the Bank Atlantic Center on Monday night. It was only the Pred's second win at the BAC, with the other coming in December 2002.
Francis Bouillon "Cube" scored a goal exactly one minute into overtime to win the game for the Predators. Bouillon had never scored a game winner in overtime and more than made up for his inability to tie last Saturday's game in the eleventh round of the shoot out against Detroit.
The Predators went ahead at 2:41 in the second period on a goal by David Legwand that broke his scoreless drought that dates back to January 2, when he scored against the Ducks.
The 1-0 Predator lead held until early in the third period when Florida came back with goals by Keith Ballard and Stephen Weiss 2:41 apart to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead.
The Panthers seemed to have the upper hand until Patric Hornqvist scored with 3:12 seconds left to send the game into overtime tied 2-2.
With the goal, Hornquist became the fourth Predator to score 30 goals in a season, joining Steve Sullivan, Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan. He is now three away from the Pred's single season record of 33 that was set by Jason Arnott last season.
Dan Ellis, playing what may be his final game as a Predator, stopped 27 of 29 Panther shots for his 15th win of the season. Scott Clemmensen took the loss as he allowed three goals on 25 Predator shots.
Storylines From The Game
Extra Time Required Once Again...
For the third game in a row and for the fifth time in the last eight games, the Predators could not settle the matter in sixty minutes of regulation play.
After Saturday's game, Pekka Rinne said the team has come to expect extra play. "I expect that usually when this team wins games it's by one goal, so you expect some games going to overtime or shootout. It's no big deal. I'm still confident we can win if it's overtime or shoot out."
It is that kind of confidence in close, pressure-filled games, that will make this team different than prior Preds playoff teams once the post-season begins.
Without Key Players, Others Step Up...
In Barry Trotz's true "Band of Brothers" fashion, others stepped up when the Preds were without Captain Jason Arnott, Marty Erat, Joel Ward and Denis Grebeshkov.
David Legwand scored his first goal in almost three months and Farancis Bouillon scored only his third goal of the year. Others have moved into new line combinations and played rolls different than they are used to, playing more minutes that they have in the past.
Wade Belak even dressed for the first time in six weeks and managed to scrap with Steve MacIntyre.
When you can win with a mix and match line up on the road in a come from behind game, it gives you things to build on as the playoffs loom near.
Tribute to Dan Ellis...
Pekka Rinne had played nine straight games going into the game with Florida and, barring injury, appears will play the remaining games on the Predators schedule as they have no back to backs and position in the standings will be on the line through the final game.
That being said, Monday's game may have been Dan Ellis' swan song with the Preds, and if it is, it's great to see him going out with a big win in a meaningful game. He has given 110% every time he has taken the ice and has no complained regardless of the role he has been given.
Ellis has been a true Nashville Predator in his 111 games with the team. His 50-42-8 record with 10 shut outs ranks him as one of the all-time best in goal for the Preds. His .924 save percentage led the league in his first season with the Preds in 2007-08.
It is a shame that economics dictate that he will move on to another team this Summer. Pred fans will always have fond memories of Dan and wish him the best wherever he lands.
Up Next...
The Predators return home on Tuesday night for an important match with the L. A. Kings who are four points behind the Preds. The game could provide a four point swing and is critical as the Preds try to maintain their fifth place slot in the Western Conference and shoot of a 100 point season.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Preds Rebound with 4-1 Win Over Panthers
Barry Trotz Postgame
Dan Hamhuis, Jordin Tootoo, Dan Ellis and J P Dumont
Florida Panther's Coach Peter DeBoer, Jordan Leopold, and Stephen Weiss
The Nashville Predators rebounded from Friday night's loss against the St. Louis Blues, that ended their seven game win streak. by beating the Florida Panthers 4-1 at the Sommet Center on Saturday night.
The Preds had three five on five goals and an empty netter to win the first game by greater than a two point margin since last February's 8-0 shellacking of the Detroit Red Wings.
J. P. Dumont had the game winning goal, while Dan Hamhuis had his first goal of the season and David Legwand and Joel Ward also scored.
Dan Ellis, making his first start since November 10, and his first start at home since opening night, was solid in goal stopping 32 of 24 Panther shots.
Preds-Panthers Story Lines...
Preds Rebound from Loss
After having their seven game win streak broken on Friday night Barry Trotz called the game against the Panthers "the most important game of the season". It was critical that the Preds not get in a rut after playing poorly in Friday's loss.
"Sometimes after a long winning streak a loss can change a team a bit but it was a big game for us to battle back,"said Dan Hamhuis. "We didn't want to lose two at home so we were happy with the effort tonight.
Barry Trotz commented on the late arriving offense. I think the team realized that we lost last night and we don't want teams coming in here and winning hockey games so they bared down in the third."
Panthers coach Peter DeBoer had a different view of the third period, "I thought we self destructed. A couple of bad plays and we just can't afford to do that. We battled and I thought we had a good second period and a good start to the third and then we shot ourselves in the foot. It costs us games."
In retrospect, a loss on Saturday would have deadly, considering that eleven of the twelve Western Conference teams that played got at least a point in the evenings action.
Return of the Physical Game
The Predators had only been involved in two fight's all season until Dave Scatchard was jumped by Carlo Colaiacovo on Friday night. Against the Panthers, Jordin Tootoo squared off twice against Kenndal McArdle. Tootoo had not been in a fight all season to that point and has played with great discipline.
Tootoo explained why he decided to fight, "I'm sure he (McArdle) had a target for me before the game started. So in the second period we needed some momentum and emotion on the bench so I thought it was the right time and place for something like that to happen."
On the lack of fights this season, Tootoo said, "I was a little rusty there but in the second fight it was the end of my shift and it was a gutless move on his part. "
On being a target Tootoo explained, "That's when I play some of my best hockey is when guys are coming after me that's when I drive myself more to be better than they are and I think it frustrates them."
Entering the game, Tootoo needed seven penalty minutes to pass Scott Hartnell's career Predator penalty minute record of 544 minutes. Tootoo's second fighting major put him in the all time lead in PIMs for the Preds.
After the game when the record was pointed out to him, Tootoo seemed unimpressed, "O yea? No clue. Perfect. Not much else to say, bottom line is we got two points and have to keep on winning."
"Toots was good," Barry Trotz related. "He played with a lot of energy. He and McArdle had something going on. McArdle was talking to him the whole time and Toots had enough of that."
On the second fight, Trotz said, "It (1st fight) wasn't much of a fight since he went down pretty easily, so he said let's go again. Bad move."
Scoring Five on Five
During the Predator's recent win streak, the Predators had become heavily dependent on the power play. Saturday's game was the second in a row where the man advantage did not produce. Barry Trotz did not see it as a bad thing that the game was won with five on five goals.
"All the goals were basically five on five," Trotz explained. "The good thing is that the power play has been so good for us in this last stretch it was good to win a game when it wasn't their night. You can't expect the power play to score two goals every night."
Dan Ellis' Play
It was a real positive for the Predators that Dan Ellis was able to step in after not playing for 2 1/2 weeks and play a solid game and pick up a critical win.
"They never really got a lot of second shots," said Barry Trotz. "Dan Ellis looked really solid, didn't look like he was rusty at all which was great."
Commenting on the long layoff, Trotz related, "I thought Ellie would be fine. He prepared really well. There were times last year where he didn't prepare the way I thought he should and it showed in his game. He's had really good practice habits and I think that is important and he has matured from last year."
Ellis was happy to be in net in front of the home crowd, "I haven't had a start here since the home opener. It's nice to come back here and play in front of the home crowd and it's a good feeling to feel like a real Nashville Predator."
On the lack of rebounds and second chance opportunities for the Panthers Ellis said, "It's something that I have tried to focus on. In watching Peks in the last few games, he is very strong on rebounds as it limits opportunities and I've had lots of time to practice and I've tried to improve in that area.
Next...
The Preds had a day off on Sunday before returning to the Sommet Center on Monday to end the home stand against the Northwest Division leading Calgary Flames. After Monday's game they travel to Minnesota on Wednesday, Chicago on Friday and then return home on Saturday to play the Wild and begin another five game home stand.
More later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Preds Hope to Rebound Against Panthers
After a disappointing effort on Friday night in a 3-1 loss to St. Louis the Nashville Predators (14-9-1) return to the ice tonight to face the Florida Panthers (10-10-4) at the Sommet Center.
Barry Trotz called tonight's matchup "the most important game of the season" pointing out the critical nature of how the team responds to having its seven game win streak snapped.
Trotz also pointed out that the weekend's opponents (St. Louis, Florida, and Calgary) were three of the leagues best teams playing on the road with a combined record of 20-6-7.
The Panthers also had a streak snapped on Friday night losing 6-4 to the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs in a home game in Florida. The Panthers had gone eight games in a row collecting a point going 5-0-3.
Florida is another team that has played better on the road (7-4-1) than at home (3-6-3). Scott Clemmensen (3-1-0, 4.12, .878) is expected to start in goal after ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun (7-9-3, 2.74, .921) gave up five goals on 32 shots last night.
Barry Trotz refused to comment on tonight's starter in goal for the Predators, but it is possible that Dan Ellis (3-4-1, 2.90, .900) will get his first start since taking the loss on a muffed shot in San Jose on November 10. Pekka Rinne (11-5-0, 2.37, .916) has played eight straight games, winning seven in a row prior to Friday's loss and may be ready for a night off.
The Predators have become heavily dependent on their power play which failed to register a point for the first time in seven games last night. Florida has been inconsistent on the man advantage as they are ranked 26th (14.0 %) in the league.
Both teams have played with discipline this season with the Predators leading the league in fewest penalties (8.5 per game) and Florida ranked sixth (11.5). The Predators have the advantage on the penalty kill with a 80.8% success rate while Florida is 29th in the league at 73.4%.
Dave Scatchard provided the only score for the Predators on Friday which was his first goal since December 12, 2006. He also was involved in the team's third fighting major of the year when he was attached by Carlo Colaiacovo as he raised his arms to celebrate the goal.
Florida is led in points by Nathan Horton (7g, 13a) and Steven Reinprecht (10g, 9a). Rookie Dmitry Kulikov had his first two goal game in the NHL in Friday's loss.
Florida is missing a couple of key players due to injury in David Booth (concussion) and Cory Stillman (knee). The Predators are injury free at this time.
The Preds will return to the Sommet Center ice again on Monday to play the Northwest Division leading Calgary Flames.
Keys To the Game...
1. The Predators need to come out and play with more jump and enthusiasm than they showed on Friday and score early in the first period so not to let Florida establish a comfort level on the Pred's home ice.
2. In last night's game, the Predators did not have as much net presence as they have had during their recent streak. They need to crash the net hard and pick up rebound goals or tips on shots from the point.
3. Scoring early and often on the power play against the low ranked Florida penalty kill will restore confidence to the power play unit that was shut down on Friday night.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
Barry Trotz called tonight's matchup "the most important game of the season" pointing out the critical nature of how the team responds to having its seven game win streak snapped.
Trotz also pointed out that the weekend's opponents (St. Louis, Florida, and Calgary) were three of the leagues best teams playing on the road with a combined record of 20-6-7.
The Panthers also had a streak snapped on Friday night losing 6-4 to the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs in a home game in Florida. The Panthers had gone eight games in a row collecting a point going 5-0-3.
Florida is another team that has played better on the road (7-4-1) than at home (3-6-3). Scott Clemmensen (3-1-0, 4.12, .878) is expected to start in goal after ex-Pred Tomas Vokoun (7-9-3, 2.74, .921) gave up five goals on 32 shots last night.
Barry Trotz refused to comment on tonight's starter in goal for the Predators, but it is possible that Dan Ellis (3-4-1, 2.90, .900) will get his first start since taking the loss on a muffed shot in San Jose on November 10. Pekka Rinne (11-5-0, 2.37, .916) has played eight straight games, winning seven in a row prior to Friday's loss and may be ready for a night off.
The Predators have become heavily dependent on their power play which failed to register a point for the first time in seven games last night. Florida has been inconsistent on the man advantage as they are ranked 26th (14.0 %) in the league.
Both teams have played with discipline this season with the Predators leading the league in fewest penalties (8.5 per game) and Florida ranked sixth (11.5). The Predators have the advantage on the penalty kill with a 80.8% success rate while Florida is 29th in the league at 73.4%.
Dave Scatchard provided the only score for the Predators on Friday which was his first goal since December 12, 2006. He also was involved in the team's third fighting major of the year when he was attached by Carlo Colaiacovo as he raised his arms to celebrate the goal.
Florida is led in points by Nathan Horton (7g, 13a) and Steven Reinprecht (10g, 9a). Rookie Dmitry Kulikov had his first two goal game in the NHL in Friday's loss.
Florida is missing a couple of key players due to injury in David Booth (concussion) and Cory Stillman (knee). The Predators are injury free at this time.
The Preds will return to the Sommet Center ice again on Monday to play the Northwest Division leading Calgary Flames.
Keys To the Game...
1. The Predators need to come out and play with more jump and enthusiasm than they showed on Friday and score early in the first period so not to let Florida establish a comfort level on the Pred's home ice.
2. In last night's game, the Predators did not have as much net presence as they have had during their recent streak. They need to crash the net hard and pick up rebound goals or tips on shots from the point.
3. Scoring early and often on the power play against the low ranked Florida penalty kill will restore confidence to the power play unit that was shut down on Friday night.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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