Predators End the Futility, Finish the Flyers in a Shootout

The Nashville Predators traveled to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers and were looking to build on a solid win from their previous game. For the Predators, consistency and a quick start were essential to capturing a road win against a hot Flyers team.

It was the Flyers that got the quick start as they tallied just 1:28 into the game as Brayden Schenn tapped in a puck laying at the side of the net. Predators netminder Carter Hutton had traffic in front on him and was fighting to find the puck when Schenn gathered in the loose puck and banged it home for the first goal of the game.

The Predators answered with a similar goal at 10:57 of the first period. Gabriel Bourque came off the wall and fired the puck toward the front of the net, where it met the skate of Eric Nystom, who was driving hard to the blue paint. The puck caromed off Nystrom's skate past Flyers goaltender Steve Mason to knot the game at 1.

The Predators took a 2-1 lead at 16:35 of the period. The Predators were on the power play when Mike Fisher threaded a pass through the slot to David Legwand, who buried the puck past a sprawling Mason.

The second period loosened up a bit and the game became an end to end contest.

The Flyers nearly tied the game as a dump in was misplayed behind the net by Hutton. The puck bounced off his stick on to the tape of Michael Raffl, who had an open net into which to shoot the puck. David Legwand tripped Raffl on the backcheck, which affected his shot, but Hutton dove out from behind the net and made a remarkable glove save to keep the Flyers off the board.

Hutton would give up the tying goal with just 3.6 seconds left in the period as Andrej Meszaros took a drop pass from Wayne Simmonds and whipped a shot over the shoulder stick side.

This was the kind of goal that could deflate a team, so it would be interesting to see how the Predators responded in the third period.

The Flyers Niklas Grossman was called for a double minor for high sticking Patric Hornqvist, and on the ensuing power play Shea Weber, much to the chagrin of Philly fans who lust after the stud defenseman, gunned a slap shot from the blue line to give the Predators a 3-2 lead at 5:10.

The Predators would continue on the power play and Craig Smith had a glorious chance on a breakaway that was stopped by Mason.

The Predators tempted fate by taking a late penalty as Mike Fisher was called for slashing and the Flyers made the Predators pay. Wayne Simmonds was parked in front of the net and he was able to re-direct a shot past Hutton at 18:36. On the play, Mason was pulled and it was a 6 on 4 advantage for the Flyers.

That late goal caused the game to go to overtime, where the Predators had not had much success this season. The Predators were 1-7 in OT sessions this season.

Neither team could score in the overtime, although the Flyers Matt Read rang a shot off the post that nearly trickled into the net before Carter Hutton smothered the puck.

It's deja vu all over again, as the teams were heading to a shootout, just like in their first meeting in Nashville.

For the first time this season, the Predators won a shootout.

The futility in the skills competition was finally over!

The shootout went seven rounds with Matt Cullen, Ryan Ellis, and Roman Josi scoring the game winner.

Some observations:

• Carter Hutton played a solid game and came up with some very good saves. He was able to track the puck well through traffic and gave up few rebounds. Hutton has had two good outings, and hopefully he can build on this and get his mojo going.

• In the shootout, the Predators surprisingly went to Seth Jones as the third shooter. He missed the net on his shot.

• The Predators power play was efficient scoring on 2 of 4 opportunities including one goal on a 4 minute double minor. The power play units have been moving the puck better of late, forcing the defense to move more and opening up shooting lanes.

• The Predators continue to put pucks on the net. They out shot the flyers 37-30 and this is what this team has to do to have an opportunity to win games.

• With the win, the Predators get back to .500 at 21-21-7, good for 49 points and 6 points out of the final playoff spot.

• New acquisition Devan Dubnyk was on the bench as the back up goalie.

The Predators continue to fight and claw to try to get back into the playoff race.

Essential for this team to do that will be to build consistency and avoid the losing streaks that have derailed momentum during this season.

These past two wins are a good place to start doing just that.

My three stars:

1. Roman Josi

2. Shea Weber

3. Wayne Simmonds

Predators Shoot Down the Stars 3-1

The Nashville Predators desperately need to string together wins. They also need to start playing well on home ice.

They accomplished both those objectives tonight as they won their second straight game and their first in the last five home games by defeating the Dallas Stars 3-1 at Bridgestone Arena.

Down 1-0 on an Eric Cole goal at 18:07 of the first period, the Predators answered with two power play goals to take a 2-1 lead at the end of the first period.

The Predators went on the power play at 18:45 of the first period as Shawn Horcoff was called for high sticking. Just 7 seconds into the power play, Brenden Dillon was called for delay of game for clearing the puck over the glass.

On the ensuing 5 on 3 power play, David Legwand found Patric Hornqvist in the low slot and Hornqvist blistered a wrist shot over the shoulder of Stars netminder Kari Lehtonen to tie the game at 19:02.

The Predators continued on a 5 on 4 power play, and David Legwand gathered in a rebound of a Roman Josi shot and his shot caromed off Lehtonen and into the net at 19:30.

The Predators extended the lead to 3-1 in the second period as Paul Gaustad took a pass from Colin Wilson and showed great patience as he held the puck and faked Lehtonen to the ice before firing the puck into the open net at 9:14 of the period.

The Predators played good defense, keeping the Stars to the outside for much of the game. The Predators had 22 blocked shots for the game. When the puck did get through, Hutton was solid in net and did a good job of controlling the puck and limiting rebounds.

Some observations:

• Hutton had a second strong outing, making 33 saves on 34 shots. Hutton tracked the puck well through traffic, limited rebounds, and was positionally sound. Hutton has looked poised and calm in his two starts, and is playing with confidence. This is the kind of play that the Predators need to consistently get into the win column.

• The Predators have struggled to win when giving up the first goal. Tonight's win was just the third victory of this season when the opponent scores first.

• The Predators response after the Stars score was critical. The power play was just 1-21 before tonight, and getting the power play on track and productive is essential for the Predators.Tonight, they had good spacing and puck movement, something that had been lacking. When they do that, the power play can be a very effective weapon.

• I was impressed with the play of Victor Bartley. He logged 22 minutes of ice time and played a very sound game. He was physical and battled down low, moving Stars forwards out of prime scoring areas.

• Mike Fisher seems to be developing some good chemistry with Viktor Stalberg. They created some scoring chances tonight and have the speed and offensive capability to be dangerous. Hopefully, they will continue to develop that chemistry and produce offensively.

• Goal-den Goose: Paul Gaustad continues to chip in offensively with his second goal in as many games. Good to see Goose getting his offensive mojo going.

The Predators responded well to the Stars first score and played a solid, 60 minute game. This is the kind of effort that the Predators have to have every night.

With 9 of the next 11 games at home, the Predators need to pile up wins and bring the energy back to the barn.

My three stars:

1. Carter Hutton

2. David Legwand

3. Shea Weber