Predators Lack Urgency and Effort, Get Shelled By the Flyers 6-3

The Nashville Predators need points. They wasted a great opportunity to pick up 2 points against the Philadelphia Flyers at Bridgestone Arena by playing a half-hearted game and dropping a critical contest by a 6-3 score.

Wayne Simmonds scored twice and the Flyers added goals by Matt Read, Brayden Schenn, and two goals by Claude Giroux, the last an empty netter.

Ryan Johansen, Calle Jarnkrok, and Shea Weber scored for the Predators.

Some observations:

• The Flyers first goal came as the result of a breakaway after a brutal non-call for interference on the Flyers. Michael Raffl skated into two Predators and took them out of the play, allowing Read to skate in an beat Rinne for the first goal of the game. How the officials don't make that call is beyond me, but it is an embarrassment to the League that a call gets blown so badly.
• Simmonds scored on a follow up of his breakaway. Rinne made the first stop, but Simmonds gathered his rebound and tucked it between Rinne's skate and the post. The play was set up when Shea Weber broke his stick and in the process of retrieving another one, Simmonds got behind him for the score.
• The Predators had ample opportunities on the power play, but could only capitalize once off a blast by Weber that he blew past Steve Mason. Other than that score, the Predators power play was inept. They had a 4 minute power play in the first period and generated only 2 shots. The power play is lacking a hard edge and a player that will go to the front of the net and create havoc. Instead, this unit is too content to float and toss the puck around the perimeter. It looks pretty, but is highly ineffective.
• I am going to call the experiment of constant line juggling by Head Coach Peter Laviolette a failure. The constant changes have disrupted chemistry and leaves the forwards looking uncertain and unsettled. I understand the need to mix up line. Occasionally. Not all the time. And the lack of chemistry and cohesiveness among the forwards is hurting this team.
• The Predators lack snarl. This team has no edge and a player that will be a shift disturber. There a re talented and dangerous forwards, but the Predators have players that more often than  not are not going to the hard areas and claiming that ice. This makes them very easy to defend and makes it more difficult to score goals in this time of the season where hard hockey is the norm.
• That said, I like the play of Miikka Salomaki. He is physical and hustles all over the ice. He is by far the most physical forward that the Predators have on their roster. 
• Rinne didn't have an exceptional game, but two breakaways and a perfect pass to Schenn alone at the side of the crease were difficult to stop. He didn't make some outstanding stops but he didn't get a lot of help in front of him either.
• Trailing going into the third period, it was almost inevitable that the Predators would absorb another loss. This team has only won 2 games this season when trailing going into the third period. They are now 2-15-3 when trailing after 2 periods, and that is awful.
• Filip Forsberg will be an elite player. Right now, however, he is on a dry spell and I get the feeling that he is trying to do too much with the puck on his stick. Skating into two or more defenders is usually a formula for turning over the puck, which he did on multiple occasions tonight.
• Forsberg, Mike Ribeiro, and Barrett Jackman were all -3 tonight. 

The Predators are going to need, I believe, 100 points to make the playoffs. With 30 games remaining and 56 points on their ledger, that means the team is going to have to go 22-8 to get to that point total.

The runway is getting short for this team.

Keep playing without a sense of urgency and desperation, and they will run out of runway very quickly.

My three stars:

1. Wayne Simmonds

2. Claude Giroux

3. Calle Jarnkrok

Power Play Propels Predators Past Philly 4-1

Yes, you read that headline right.

After struggling on the power play all year, especially on home ice, the Predators used three power play goals and an empty netter to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at the Bridgestone Arena.

Filip Forsberg opened the scoring on the power play, skating off the wall and sniping a shot over the pad of flyers goalie Ray Emery at 9:41 of the first period.

The Flyers tied the game at 1 at 6:50 of the second period as the Predators turned the puck over and the Flyers had a 2 on 1 break. Claude Giroux snapped a shot over the glove of Pekka Rinne.

The Predators had 1:15 of 5 on 3 in the second period, and Mike Fisher was able to tap a puck past Emery in a scramble in front of the crease. The play was set up by a shot from Forsberg that Emery could not control, and Fisher did a good job of fighting for the puck.

With the Predators still on the man advantage, Colin Wilson skated the puck off the half wall and snapped a perfectly placed shot over the shoulder of Emery and inside the far post to make it 3-1.

Wilson sealed the win with an empty net goal at 16:42 of the third period. Wilson was able to steal the puck at center ice and used his speed to separate from a Flyers defenseman to bury the puck in the open net.

Some observations:

• The Predators have not lost back to back games this season.
• This is just the second time this season that the Predators have won on home ice by more than one goal. The only other time was a 4-1 win over Dallas in the season opener.
• Colin Wilson has really been playing well and tonight set a career high by scoring a goal in three straight games. His power play goal was a beauty, a perfectly placed shot that sailed over the shoulder of Emery inside the far post. Wilson is using his speed and puck handling ability to create scoring chances and more importantly is playing with confidence. His play has been integral to the Predators success this season.
• Shea Weber had an assist and set a career high with an assist in five straight games.
• The Predators were much better in the face off circle tonight, winning 57% of their draws. This obviously was beneficial to their puck possession numbers.
• The Predators penalty kill came up big tonight, killing all three of the Flyers power plays including 58 seconds of a 5 on 3 to open the second period.
• The power play finally showed some life, going 3 for 4. Mike Fisher did a good job of screening in front of the goal and the puck movement was better. Hopefully this gives this unit more confidence in the games ahead. Until this game, the Predators had only scored two power play goals on home ice all season.
• Forsberg's 14th goal of the season ties him with Craig Smith for third for goals scored by a Predators rookie. He is just 4 points behind Alexander Radulov for most points by a Predators rookie. Forsberg continues to impress with his hockey sense and his nose for the net.
• The tandem of Shea Weber and Roman Josi is quickly developing into an elite defensive pairing. They are complimentary players that play to each others strengths. Tonight, they did a superb job of shutting down the top line of the Flyers and contributing in the offensive end with 3 points (Weber 1A; Josi 2A). Think the Flyers wish they had Weber?
• Pekka Rinne had a solid outing, stopping 26 of 27 shots and making some quality saves to keep the Flyers off the board.
• The Predators out shot the Flyers 38-27, including a 17-9 advantage in the second period that was aided by the Flyers penalties.

A solid win after the Christmas break for the Predators and it is encouraging to see this team focused and continuing to play at a high level.

They will need to continue to do so as the schedule is going to get a lot tougher in the coming 4 weeks with 4 sets of back to backs.

My three stars:

1. Filip Forsberg

2. Colin Wilson

3. Pekka Rinne

Predators Fall to the Flyers in a SO

The Nashville Predators fell to the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in a shootout at Bridgestone Arena. The game was tied at 2 at the end of overtime.

The Flyers Vinnie Lecavalier scored the only shootout goal in the first round.

The Flyers opened the scoring at 16:49 of the first period as Claude Giroux cruised down the slot and roofed a shot over the shoulder of Predators goaltender Marek Mazanec.

The Predators answered back at 17:49 of the first period as Mike Fisher used two Flyers as a screen and fired a shot from the face off circle that beat Steve Mason.

After a scoreless second period, the Predators took a 2-1 lead at 5:05 of the third period as Colin Wilson beat Mason five hole with a backhand off the rush.

That score stood until 13:06 of the third when Sean Couturier was left alone by the Predators defense at the top of the crease and he lifted a shot over Mazanec to tie the game.

In the overtime, the Predators out shot the Flyers 3-1, and Colin Wilson banged a puck off the post, but the could not neat Mason.

Some observations:

• The young and mix and match defense corps did a commendable job. There were some breakdowns but generally the blueliners played well. Seth Jones steadied his game and he played a monstrous 30:43, second only to roman Josi's incredible 32:26.

• The Predators will be without the services of Shea Weber for the next few games. Weber took a puck to the face and suffered an eye injury. According to head Coach Barry Trotz, Weber is "very lucky" and the injury could have been much worse. The Predators were also without Kevin Klein, out with a lower body injury.

• The Predators called up Joe Piskula from Milwaukee, and he logged 10:27 tonight.

• Patric Hornqvist returned to the lineup after missing two games. Hornqvist picked up an assist in 22:24 of ice time.

• The compete level of the Predators was much better than in their previous game. Their speed advantage against the Flyers was obvious and they used it to their advantage to create scoring chances. The Predators out shot the Flyers 36-24, and Mason made some good saves to prevent the Predators from scoring.

• That said, the Predators power play was abysmal. Entry into the zone was a struggle and their was little movement and flow once in the zone. The power play appears to have taken a big step backwards the past several games, and this has to improve for this team to have success. Tonight, the power play was 0-5.

The Predators did some good things in this game, just not enough to notch the win. The team can get back to their winning ways if they continue to bring this kind of effort and finish their chances.

My three stars:

1. Vinnie Lecavalier

2. Colin Wilsom

3. Sean Couturier

Flyers Flummox the Predators 4-1

The Nashville Predators hoped to have a February campaign that was as good as their January effort, where the team went 11-2. They faced a tall order in the form of the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Predators gave Pekka Rinne a rare night off and started Anders Lindback in net, while the Flyers went with their starter, Ilya Bryzgalov.

The Predators were attempting to sweep their two game series with the Flyers after capturing a 4-2 decision in Nashville just 19 days ago.

The first period was a track meet with both teams moving the puck up and down the ice and creating some chances.. Nashville had the better of the first period in shots with a 12-6 advantage, but it was the Flyers that found the back of the net first. Wayne Simmonds took the puck off the boards and worked to the high slot against Ryan Suter. Simmonds spun quickly around Suter and let a backhand shot go that beat a screened Lindback for the only score of the period at 15:41.

In the second period, the Predators had to kill off 1:34 of a Flyers two man advantage as Gabriel Bourque was in the box serving a too many men on the ice bench minor and Ryan Suter was called for delay of game for clearing the puck over the glass. The Predators PK unit came up big and managed to kill the penalty.

Just as Suter's penalty was about to expire, a melee broke out in front of Lindback, and after the resulting penalties were meted out, the Predators had a power play. As was the trend in this game, the Flyers managed to kill off the penalty. Through two periods, the Predators power play was 0-4 as the Flyers penalty killers did a very good job of thwarting the Predators effort.

Shortly after the Predators power play had expired, Matt Read stole the puck from Kevin Klein at the Flyers blue line and drove in on Lindback. His snap shot from the face off circle beat Lindback cleanly to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead at 14:32 of the second period.

The first 40 minutes of this contest saw the Predators power play become ineffective, and more troubling was the fact that the Predators only managed 4 shots on goal in the second period. Obviously, the offensive effort by the Predators was going to have to improve significantly if they were going to get back in this game.

The third period saw the Predators skating hard and controlling the puck and creating scoring chances. This was the way they were going to have to play to get back in this game.

Their efforts were rewarded at 8:36 of the third period as Craig Smith found a pinching Ryan Suter just inside the face off circle and Suter's quick wrist shot beat Bryzgalov to make the score 2-1 and give the Predators new life in this game. Matt Halischuk started the play by keeping control of the puck down low, and once again, the Predators were getting production from the young guys on the roster.

The Predators continued to move their feet and put pressure on the Flyers. They were generating some good scoring chances, but needed to bury a shot.

The Predators short circuited their momentum when Jerred Smithson was called for interference. The Flyers tallied a power play goal as Wayne Simmonds gathered in a rebound of a Claude Giroux shot at the top of the crease and hammered home the puck to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead at 15:19 of the third period.

With Lindback pulled for the extra attacker, Claude Giroux potted an empty net goal at 1:55 to give the Flyers a 4-1 lead and the game.

While the Predators failed to win this game, I did like their compete level in the third period. They skated hard and created some quality scoring chances, but could not bury the game tying goal. Shots were 11-11 in the third period, but the Predators forecheck created some good opportunities. Finishing their chances was the missing element for the Predators.

So for the Predators, it is time to get back on the horse and start another winning streak. That begins Saturday at home against St. Louis.

My three stars:

1. Wayne Simmonds

2. Ilya Bryzgalov

3. Craig Smith