Predators Out Play Rangers But Lose 2-1 In A Shootout

The Nashville Predators played an excellent game at both ends of the ice but managed to lose to the New York Rangers 2-1 in a shoot out after leading for most of the game.

Erik Christensen scored the only goal of the shoot out to clinch the victory for the Rangers. Ryan Callahan scored the game tying goal at 13:04 in the third period to send the game into overtime.

The Predators goal came from Colin Wilson 5:10 into the contest which gave the Preds the first early lead since they played in Montreal on November 18.

Both goalies were superb in the tight defensive contest. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 of 30 Nashville shots and all three in the shootout while Pekka Rinne stopped 23 of 24 and all but the game winner in the shootout.

Trotz was frustrated after the game, "I think it's really frustrating. It seems like a lot of gloom and doom. It's unfortunate when you have a lead but can't hold on to it. These things are coming a little bit harder. We had a lot of chances but Lundqvist was really good."

He further said, "Wins are not coming real easy, but we got a point, and you take the points whenever you get them."

One of the highlights of the game was the first period bout between Jordin Tootoo and Sean Avery. Tootoo was asked if he was surprised that Avery was willing to fight, "Absolutely, He's the guy that wants to have the advantage on you whether you are at the end of your shift and he's fresh. I knew he was going to try to surprise me but I knew it was coming."



Coming into the game the Predators had gone 17 for 17 on the penalty kill and decided to put it to the test at the 1:00 mark in the first when Jordin Tootoo was called for holding Ruslan Fedotenko. The Preds kept the streak intact by allowing only one shot.

The Preds had a great scoring chance at 4:10 when Marty Erat had a breakaway but could not find the net. A minute later, at 5:10, Wilson took advantage of a Dan Girardi bobble and took the puck to the net and put it past Lundqvist to give the Preds a 1-0 lead. Phantom assists were given to Francis Bouillon and Marcel Goc.

The Rangers put the puck in the net at 8:52 but it was ruled null and void as it was deemed kicked by a Ranger player.

In an odd move at 14:31 after a TV time out, Tootoo and Sean Avery were each given roughing penalties for contact before a faceoff. After serving their time, as the pair left the box at 16:35, they drew together like magnets and immediately reengaged. Tootoo bested Avery in a clear take down after a couple of solid punches to Avery's head.

Thirteen seconds later, Shane O'Brien and Brandon Prust engaged behind the Preds net and fought to a draw as the referees intervened after they wore each other out.

As the period ended there was more pushing and shoving between Colin Wilson and Brandon Dubinsky. For the period the Preds out shot the Rangers 13-11 and were dominant in the Corsi 25-15. On the fight card the Preds led with a 1-0-1 record with another bout with potential to be continued later.

Both teams committed infractions at the start of the second period, Rinne for delay of game at :09 for going into the trapezoid and Alex Frolov for holding Steve Sullivan's stick at 1:55. The Preds went back on the man advantage at 6:01 when Brian Boyle for tripping Jerred Smithson.

At 9:05, Bouillon was called for roughing Avery after a little bump into the boards. On the penalty kill, Rinne saved a goal at 10:06 with a great save on a point blank shot from Erik Christensen.

Rinne was called for entering the trapezoid a second time at 18:13 and was not pleased with the call. It is an infraction that is rarely called and it happened twice in the second period.

For the second period, the Rangers out shot the Preds 7-5 and led the Corsi 18-11. The Preds faced a barrage of shot attempts but were excellent at clearing any rebounds to cut down on quality second chance attempts.

Cody Franson had to be hauled out of the arena at 5:53 in the third when Avery hit him in the neck and/or face with the blade of his stick. No penalty was called.

Trotz explained the injury, "He basically took a stick high up in the head and neck area and he's being evaluated at the hospital right now. Talking to the trainers, he'll probably be fine, but the hospital trip is precautionary."

The Predators returned to the power play at 9:30 when Fedotenko tripped J.P. Dumont. The Preds managed two shots but nothing on the scoreboard.

At 13:04, the Rangers tied the game 1-1 when Callahan picked up a rebound off of a Michael Del Zotto shot and put it past the out-stretched glove of Rinne.

The game went to overtime with the Predators outshooting the Rangers 11-5 in the third period and leading the Corsi 28-10 as the Preds really limited the Rangers chances while putting significant pressure on their defense.

Overtime was a brisk back and forth period with no whistles and no real scoring chances as each team was credited with a single shot.

In the shootout, Christensen went first for the Rangers and scored the only goal. Cal O'Reilly, Goc, and Marty Erat missed for the Preds while Derek Stepan and Callahan failed for the blue shirts.

The bottom line is that the Predators have now lost four in a row, albeit two were in shootouts where a point was earned, and have scored five goals in their last five games. The Preds are still only three points out of the Western Conference playoffs so it's not time to panic but the team needs to find more consistency and find ways to win instead of ways to lose.

The Predators will return to action Tuesday night at the Bridgestone Arena when they take on the Western Conference.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Game Recap: Preds, Ellis Beat Rangers 2-1

The Nashville Predators beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in a tightly played contest Wednesday night at Madison Square Gardens.

Dan Ellis' stellar goaltending was the difference as he stopped all 18 Ranger shots in the third period and 37 of 38 shots for the game.

Rookie Colin Wilson had the game winning goal on a power play with 3:50 left in the second period. Jordin Tootoo had the Pred's other goal late in the first period.

Henrik Lundqvist also had an excellent night in goal stopping 34 of 36 Predator shots. The Ranger goal was scored by Vinny Prospal on the power play midway through the second period.


Game Narrative...

The Rangers came out at the start of the game with plenty of energy as they had not played since Saturday. The Predators matched them stride for stride and out shot the Rangers 4-3 leading up to the games first penalty at 7:32 when Joel Ward was called for holding.

After the needless penalty, the Rangers got two shots on the power play while the Preds got one. Chris Drury had a great opportunity on a breakaway but Dan Ellis held firm in goal.

The Predators went on the power play at 11:08 when Erik Christensen was called for hooking Colin Wilson. The Preds were unable to get any pressure on the Rangers or any shots during the man advantage,

Enver Lisin was called for slashing Kevin Klein at 15:11 to put the Pred's power play unit back on the ice. New York kept the Preds off balance but they did manage four shots on the man advantage.

Kevin Klein put the puck in play at 17:45 when he fired a slap shot through a crowd of players and it was defected into the net by Jordin Tootoo who was credited with the goal to put the Preds in from 1-0.

At 19:31, the Rangers were again stung with a penalty when Corey Potter was called for interference. The Pred's power play was negated at 19:49 when Ryan Callahan stole the puck from Shea Weber and took a breakaway the length of the ice and was deterred by Steve Sullivan who was called for holding as Callahan got a shot on Ellis who was able to control the puck.

The period ended with the Preds leading in shots by an 11-9 margin. The Corsi margin was larger at 23-16.

The second period started with 1:29 of four on four play from the carry over penalties. The remainder of the penalty time was uneventful.

A series of Ranger turnovers led to several quick Predator chances. At 2:02, Jordin Tootoo almost had his second goal of the game on a breakaway that Henrik Lundqvist was able to corral. Thirty seconds later, Colin Wilson fed a pass to Marty Erat on an odd man rush that ended up with a shot hitting the crossbar. A third breakaway happened a minute later when J.P. Dumont was stoned by Lundqvist.

Martin Erat was called for tripping on a horrible call at 7:40 when two Ranger players tripped each other as Erat was nearby on a faceoff. With 59 seconds left on Erat's penalty, Steve Sullivan was called for slashing to give the Rangers a five on three power play.

With two seconds left in the Ranger two man advantage the puck caromed off the wall behind the Preds net and Dan Ellis thought that he had control of it but Vinny Prospal worked it free from Ellis and knocked it into the net to tie the game 1-1.

A double minor was called against the Rangers at 12:34 when Michael Del Zotto was called for hooking Colin Wilson and then added an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as he explained what he thought of the call to the officials. After numerous chances and four shots, Colin Wilson finally got the puck past Lundqvist for a power play goal at 16:10 to put the Preds ahead 2-1.

For the second period the Preds led in shots 13-11 and also in the Corsi numbers by a 22-19 margin. Jerred Smithson left the game late in the period with a lower body injury and did not return.

The third period started with the Preds wanting to hold the lead against a Ranger team that has been 0-19-2 when trailing going in to the final period.

At 2:45 the Predator's worst nightmare happened again when Alex Sulzer lost his edge and fell behind the Preds net and Chris Drury went down with him drawing a hooking penalty. The Rangers had four shots during the man advantage but Ellis held firm.

Steve Sullivan went into the wall hard halfway through the third period trying to beat an icing call. He was grimacing in pain as he left the ice.

At 13:29, Barry Trotz called a time out as the Predators play was starting to deteriorate with the majority of play occurring in the Pred's end in front of Dan Ellis' net. The Preds were down to nine forwards with Smithson and Sullivan out and Belak not getting shifts in the tightly contested contest.

At 16:50 on a series of shots, the Preds defense collapsed and allowed repeated scoring chances but luckily, the Rangers shots were contained by Dan Ellis. As the seconds ticked down, the Predators were running out of gas and not near as crisp as they needed to be.

Steve Sullivan was able to return in the closing minutes for four shifts.

The Rangers pulled Lundqvist with 1:40 seconds left after a Ranger time out. As time wound down, Joel Ward was called for slashing with four seconds left to give the Rangers a brief bit of six on four play. Time ran out and the Predators capped a much needed win.

The Rangers played desperate hockey in the final period out shooting the Preds 18-12 and leading the Corsi numbers 26-14.


Storylines From The Game

Heroes All Around...

The adage that your best players have to be your best players did not hold true on Wednesday night. With both goals and the shot leaders coming from the lower lines there were many contributors in the game.

Jordin Tootoo was the shot leader with six, including the one that supplied the Pred's first goal, followed by Cal O'Reilly and Francis Bouillon with five each. Rookie Colin Wilson had four shots including his game winning goal. Cal O'Reilly also was seven of eleven in the face off circle.

Ellis Was Outstanding...

Over the last ten games when the Preds were 2-6-2, there were few occasions where a goalie was able to steal a game for the win. That is exactly what happened against the Rangers when Dan Ellis came up with game saving stops repeatedly throughout the game.

Ellis had not started a game since January 29th with Pekka Rinne having started the last five games. Ellis had a bit of trouble with rebounds early but came up with the big saves when he had to.

Injuries Again...

Jerred Smithson was forced to leave the game with 3:33 left in the second period with what was described as a lower body injury.

With 9:37 left in the final period, Pred fans everywhere held their breath as Steve Sullivan went into the end boards hard trying to prevent an icing call. Sully appeared to be in serious pain and all were hoping that he had not reinjured his surgical back.

Sullivan returned with 4:26 remaining and appeared to be OK playing four shifts when the team needed him most.

Up Next...

The Preds will try to stay out of the snow storm in the New York City area and head over to Newark on Friday for a game at the Prudential Center against the Devils.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

Game Preview: Preds Face Rangers at MSG

The Nashville Predators (31-22-5) continue their swing through the Big Apple with a pit stop at Madison Square Gardens to play the New York Rangers (26-26-7) tonight at 6 p.m. Central.

The game will be a critical test for the Preds who have gone 2-6-2 in their last ten games that includes a horrible 4-3 loss to the Islanders last night in a shoot out in a game that never should have gone to overtime.

The Rangers have also struggled going 3-7 in their last ten games but are coming off of a 3-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday at the Gardens.

The biggest story for the Rangers is whether their top producer, Marian Gaborik (35 goals, 34 assists), will be able to play after he received a deep cut to his right leg when he collided with Henrik Lundqvist in Tuesday's practice.

The Preds will face Olli Jokinen for the fifth time this season after he came over from the Calgary Flames in a trade last week.

The Predators will be without Marcel Goc who remains in Nashville recuperating from an upper body injury.

This is the only meeting of the year between the two teams. Their last meeting was March 12, 2009 in Nashville when the Rangers won 4-2.

Dan Ellis (11-11-1, 2.66, .910) will be in goal for the Predators and Olympian Henrik Lundqvist (23-21-6, 2.43, .919) will start for the Rangers.

Predator's Keys to the Game

D I S C I P L I N E...

Words cannot describe the seriousness of the meltdowns in discipline in the Predator's previous two games. The textbook boarding infractions by Dan Hamhuis on Saturday and Marty Erat last night cost the Predators a minimum of a point in each of the two games.

Alltogether, the Preds had seven penalties in the game against the Islanders and none were ones that could be tolerated by the Predators coaches. The Predators are ranked first in the league in fewest penalties and have wandered off from the needed discipline that got them to that point to begin with.

The Rangers are a rough and tumble team and are second in the NHL in hits so there will be plenty of opportunity for the Preds not to respond in an inappropriate manner. The Preds need to play with an aggressive style, but need to be careful not to give the Rangers unnecessary opportunities on the power play.

Penalty Kill Improvement...

Albeit both power play goals that the Islanders scored last night were on the two man advantage, the Predators penalty kill unit looked disheveled and out of sync. Had they been able to kill either of the two opportunities, the Preds would have come out of the game with a victory and an additional point.

The Rangers have an average power play unit (12th in the NHL, 18.6%) but are exceptional on home ice (3rd, 23.8%). They are also on a hot streak, going five for nine in the last two games. The Predators have given up power play goals in seven of the last eight games being successfully killing only 23 of 34 opportunities.

The Predators plunge down the Western Conference standings will continue if special teams do not improve immediately.

No Lapses on Defense...

The Predator's defense has suffered from inconsistency for the entire season. There have been far too many lapses and breakdowns in coverage and too much screening in front of the Predator goalies to be successful on a long term basis.

Recently, both Pekka Rinne and Dan Ellis have had to be near perfect and have outstanding games in order to make up for shoddy defense in front of the net. On so many occasions this season, the average fan can see one coverage breakdown lead to another knowing that an opponent goal is imminent.

If the development is that easy to see from the stands or on television, the players involved have to realize that is is happening in their own midst. The team needs to get back to the basics and cover the area and the players that they are supposed to cover and not lay so much on the goalies to carry the load.

Up Next...

The Preds will brave the snow and head to New Jersey for a game on Friday night.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass

A Tale of Two Cities

The New York Rangers came to Music City on Thursday night and out played the Nashville Predators in route to a 4-2 victory. Henrik Lundqvist broke new ground in the NHL record book by winning his 30th game of the season to become the first goalie in history to do so in each of their first four seasons.

The game provides a platform for a comparison between two cities, two teams, and two worldviews that are a study in contrasts. Being in a reflective mood the morning after a loss that was so typical of a season of bubble bursting setbacks, I present the following thoughts.

One town is in a Northern locale known as the “city that never sleeps”; the other was once a sleepy Southern town on a lazy river that people from the North and West like to migrate to.

Both cities have streets named Broadway. One is the center of the theatrical universe, while the other has experienced rebirth and is home to numerous country music honky tonks (and Hockey Tonk).

One town is known for a wide variety of authentic ethnic foods; the other is known for bar-b-que (pork of course).

One place has the Statue of Liberty and used to have a World Trade Center; the other has the “bat building” and a 100 year old replica of the Greek Parthenon.

One city is the hub of the Western world; the second is the hub of Country Music.

One city has Bernie Madoff who is in jail for defrauding $50 billion from investors; the other has an ex-team owner named “Boots” who is free awaiting trial for his shady dealings.

One state had a senator named Hillary; the other has a first lady with a sign that said “keep your damn hands off of our team”.

One city has a team that was one of the “original six” and has a long storied history; the other is an eleven year old franchise in a “non-traditional” market.

One team plays in a Garden that is always sold out; the second plays in a Center that appears to have reached their average paid attendance goal of 14,000 paid per game.

One team has a former Stanley Cup winning coach that’s been on board for three weeks, while the other has only had one coach in franchise history who has never made it past the first round of the playoffs.

One team has a long history of rowdy fans in the “blue seats”, while the other team boasts of the Cellblock in Section 303 (www.section303.com) as the loudest section in the loudest arena in the NHL.

One city’s exclamation for all occasions is “Potvin Sucks”, while the other city’s is a more general “you suck!” and an “Ay Oh, Wings Blow!” with every playing of the Ramones’ rock anthem Blitzkrieg Bop.

One team has 45 former players in the Hockey Hall of Fame and the other has none.

Wayne Gretzky played for one team, while the other team played against “The Great One” in his final season in a game where fans hoped he would break the all time goal scoring record but settled for seeing him have five assists instead.

One franchise was active at the trade deadline, adding three players, while the other stood pat hoping for a boost with the return of several injured players.

One team’s captain played a team high 31 shifts, while the other team’s was out with possible concussion symptoms.

One team’s top defenseman has eight goals this season; the other team’s top d-man tied a franchise record with his 18th goal.

One team has a four year starter in goal that is acclaimed as one of the games best, while the other team has a rookie goalie that is having an incredible year, but unfortunately gave way to an ex-rookie sensation that is having a marginal sophomore effort.

One team has a recently reacquired agitator that scored a goal and was in the middle of two others and is an irritant to society, in general, while the other has a pest that is beloved by the hometown fans.

One team has been to the playoffs for three years in a row and appears headed there again, while the other is faced with having its four year streak of playoff appearances broken without a quick turnaround.

One team jumped up two places into seventh in the Eastern Conference with a win, while the other fell two places in the West to tenth with the loss.

One team has won four of their last five, while the other has now lost three in a row after having won a season high six in a row.

One team headed to Philadelphia for a home and away series with the Flyers, while the other team heads to Phoenix to open a four game in six nights road trip that will be critical to the team’s playoff hopes.

One team is on the NHL on NBC on a regular basis, and the other has only appeared on NBC during the playoffs when they played the Red Wings.

This comparison could go on for days, but will stop at this point. I am asking you, the reader, to continue adding to the list with your thoughts, comparisons, and quips.

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass