The Nashville Predators have struggled to generate offense so far this young season. Their task is to get shots on net and quality scoring chances, to get back to playing Predator hockey. A game built on grit, speed, and effort.
That task was going to be made more difficult as they faced the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.
The Predators had Pekka Rinne in net, while the Kings were going with Jonathan Quick.
The Predators got the start they wanted as just 58 seconds into the game David Legwand won a face off in the Kings zone and the puck came to Brandon Yip at the top of the face off circle. Yip loaded up the shot and beat Quick high glove side to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.
The Predators gave the Kings a golden opportunity to tie the game. Scott Hannan was called for interference at 11:10 of the period. One minute later, Paul Gaustad was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct for chirping the officials. The Kings had 1 minute of 5 on 3 power play time, which they immediately short circuited by taking a tripping penalty off the face off, resulting in a minute of 4 on 3 hockey and the Kings with the advantage.
The Kings made the Predators pay for their transgression just as Hannan's penalty was about to expire. Mike Richards shot the puck over the net and it rebounded right in front of the net. Hal Gill did not see the puck and Dustin Brown pounced on the loose puck at the top of the crease and hammered it past a defenseless Rinne to tie the game at 13:08 of the period.
The Predators continued to tempt fate as Hal Gill was called for cross checking, the fourth penalty that the Predators took in the period. The Predators were able to kill the penalty, but would open the second a man down for another 32 seconds. That is until Dustin Brown took a penalty at the 20 minute mark for interference.
The Predators skated better in this opening frame than they have in their past few games.The undisciplined play of the team gave the Kings the opportunity to out shoot the Predators 10-3 and disrupted any offensive flow the Predators tried to establish. The Predators were going to have to play a more disciplined game and stay out of the box to be successful. The potent Kings offense did not need help with the man advantage.
Scott Hannan continued to get familiar with the officials in the penalty box as he took his third penalty of the game for tripping at 3:05 of the second period. Fortunately, the Predators were able to kill off the penalty.
The second period was scoreless. The Predators power play was ineffective, and even though the shots were 5 apiece in the period, the Kings had the territorial advantage for much of the period. Through two periods, the Predators offense continued to struggle, mustering just 8 total shots on goal.
The same sad song.
If the Predators were going to have a chance, they were going to have to commit to getting the puck onnet and create some havoc in front of Quick. So far, they had failed to do that.
The third period started to open up with both teams moving the puck up and creating some chances. The Predators had a chance to take the lead with Quick caught out of position but the Predators unable to corral a bouncing puck at the side of the net. Rinne made a huge stop as the Kings converted a turnover and Jeff Carter got loose in front of the net.
The Kings pressed late in the third period, but the Predators were able to keep them off the board. Neither team could find the back of the net, so the game was going to overtime.
The Kings out shot the Predators 22-11, and the Predators failed to register a shot on goal over the final 10 minutes of the period.
It would be an understatement to say that the Predators stole a point in this game.
The Predators created some great scoring chances in the overtime period off their effort down low in the Kings zone. Ryan Ellis had a good scoring chance but could not bury it and Sergei Kostitsyn could not put home a rebound.
The Predators kept up the effort and the forecheck and showed their best offensive zone possession of the game, but could not get the puck in the net. So for the fourth time this season, the Predators were heading to the shootout.
In the first round, Pekka Rinne stopped Jeff Carter. David Legwand beat Quick to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.
In the second round, Mike Richards beat Rinne five hole. Craig Smith fired a shot that hit Quick's pads and bounced in the goal. to restore the Predators lead.
In the third round, Dustin Brown beat Rinne with a great fake. to tie the shootout. Marty Erat missed the net on his attempt.
The fourth round saw Drew Doughty miss the net. Colin Wilson had a chance to end the game, and was missed off the backhand.
The Kings had Jarrett Stoll shoot in the fifth round and Rinne was able to stop the shot with his left pad. Brandon Yip hit the side of the net.
Anze Kopitar gave the Kings the lead as he beat Rinne stick side. Gabriel Bourque had to score in the sixth round and he made a sweet move and beat Quick off his backhand just under the crossbar.
Rinne stopped Justin Williams as he got enough of the shot and it trickled wide. Roman Josi fired wide on his attempt.
In the eighth round, Simon Gagne was stopped by the pad of Rinne. Sergei Kostitsyn faked Quick to the ice and beat Quick to the far post for the win.
Although there were stretches where the Predators were outplayed by the Kings, this game was a different game for this team. They did not cave under pressure and played with some heart, qualities that had been lacking in some of their previous games.
This is the kind of effort that, while far from true Predator hockey, showed flashes of what this team can do.
It is time to build on that effort, boys.
My three stars:
1. Pekka Rinne
2. Brandon Yip
3. Sergei Kostitsyn
Showing posts with label Jarrett Stoll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jarrett Stoll. Show all posts
Friday, February 1, 2013
Friday, January 7, 2011
LA Lashed by the Predators 5-2
In their two previous contests, the L.A. Kings have owned the Nashville Predators, winning the first two contests of the season by a combined score of 10-2 in games where the Predators never mustered much in the way of offense. Tonight, at the Staples Center,the Predators turned the tables on the Kings with a decisive 5-2 victory.
The first period opened with both teams showing some good jump and generating some quality scoring chances. Anders Lindback and Jonathan Bernier were both challenged and both were equal to the task.
L.A. opened the contest trying to take the body and exert their physical will. Unlike the two previous tilts, the Predators answered the physical challenge and did a good job of skating hard and establishing a good forecheck. That effort resulted in some good scoring chances, but the Predators were unable to solve Bernier.
Anders Lindback fended off some good scoring chances by the Kings, holding off all 12 of the Kings shots. Bernier stopped all 11 shots he faced from the Predators.
Kyle Clifford tallied for the Kings at 2:16 of the second period as J.P. Dumont absorbed a thunderous hit and was struggling to get to the bench, effectively leaving the Predators a man down. Marco Sturm shot the puck off the wing, and Lindback made the initial save but gave up a big rebound that Clifford buried into an open net.
The Predators had a glorious scoring opportunity as Patric Hornqvist found Kevin Klein sneaking down the off wing and hit him with a perfect pass. Bernier managed to slide across the net and get a piece of the shot for a great save five minutes into the period.
The injury bug continued to bite the Predators as the lost Nick Spaling to an upper body injury in the early going of the second period.
Jarrett Stoll scored on the power play at 7:57 of the second with Francis Buillon in the box for interference. Stoll launched a bomb from the blue line that beat Lindback high over his glove side. Lindback had lost his goal stick, but it was not a factor in the play as the shot beat Lindback cleanly.
The Predators answered on a power play of their own at 9:57. Ryan Suter wound up for what appeared to be a slap shot, but instead delivered a nice slap pass to Colin Wilson who was alone at the side of the net. Wilson re-directed the pass past Bernier for his 10th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1.
This goal was critical for the Predators to stave off the momentum of the Kings and keep themselves in the contest.
Marek Svatos would tally his first goal as a Predator at 10:19 as Colin Wilson took a shot coming down the wing that Bernier kicked out off his pads. The rebound came to Svatos, who was driving the net and was able to put the rebound past an out of position Bernier.
The Predators had taken a punch from the Kings. In their previous contests, they did not answer. Tonight, they answered.
The Predators went back to the power play with Matt Greene in the box for interference and made the Kings pay for their transgression. Colin Wilson walked in off the half boards and cranked a shot low along the ice. Patric Hornqvist was camped- where else- at the top of the crease and re-directed the shot past Bernier for his 12th goal of the season at 14:28.
After back and forth play, including a fight between Francis Buillon and Wayne Simmonds that left Buillon with a broken nose, the period ended with the Predators on top 3-2.
The third period opened with more of the back and forth play between the teams, with each team looking for the other to break. The Kings were the first to crack under the pressure as Sergei Kostitsyn whistled a wrist shot toward Bernier. Bernier got a piece of the shot but not enough to stop it, and the puck slid in the net just inside the far post to extend the Predators lead to 4-2 at 9:10 of the third period. This was Kostitsyn's 10th goal of the season.
That off season signing of Kostitsyn by GM David Poile looks mighty good right now.
Patric Hornqvist tallied his second goal at 15:33 of the third period as he buried a rebound given up by Bernier off a shot by Sergei Kostitsyn. After being down 2-0, the Predators had scored five unanswered goals.
That 5-2 margin would be the final score of the game as the Predators played a complete game, being physical, aggressively forechecking to create offensive opportunities, and playing solid defense. These are the hockey characteristics that were vital to the Predators win.
The aspect of this game that doesn't show in the score sheet is the heart that the Predators displayed in winning this game. Down 2-0 to a team that had dominated them this season, it would have been easy to fold under the pressure. Instead, this team manned up and came back in the face of definite adversity.
Heart will be critical to continuing the winning streak and piling up points.
This team is built around heart and character. Continue to play like this, and this team will continue to win and lash future opponents.
My three stars:
1. Colin Wilson
2. Patric Hornqvist
3. Sergei Kostitsyn
The first period opened with both teams showing some good jump and generating some quality scoring chances. Anders Lindback and Jonathan Bernier were both challenged and both were equal to the task.
L.A. opened the contest trying to take the body and exert their physical will. Unlike the two previous tilts, the Predators answered the physical challenge and did a good job of skating hard and establishing a good forecheck. That effort resulted in some good scoring chances, but the Predators were unable to solve Bernier.
Anders Lindback fended off some good scoring chances by the Kings, holding off all 12 of the Kings shots. Bernier stopped all 11 shots he faced from the Predators.
Kyle Clifford tallied for the Kings at 2:16 of the second period as J.P. Dumont absorbed a thunderous hit and was struggling to get to the bench, effectively leaving the Predators a man down. Marco Sturm shot the puck off the wing, and Lindback made the initial save but gave up a big rebound that Clifford buried into an open net.
The Predators had a glorious scoring opportunity as Patric Hornqvist found Kevin Klein sneaking down the off wing and hit him with a perfect pass. Bernier managed to slide across the net and get a piece of the shot for a great save five minutes into the period.
The injury bug continued to bite the Predators as the lost Nick Spaling to an upper body injury in the early going of the second period.
Jarrett Stoll scored on the power play at 7:57 of the second with Francis Buillon in the box for interference. Stoll launched a bomb from the blue line that beat Lindback high over his glove side. Lindback had lost his goal stick, but it was not a factor in the play as the shot beat Lindback cleanly.
The Predators answered on a power play of their own at 9:57. Ryan Suter wound up for what appeared to be a slap shot, but instead delivered a nice slap pass to Colin Wilson who was alone at the side of the net. Wilson re-directed the pass past Bernier for his 10th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1.
This goal was critical for the Predators to stave off the momentum of the Kings and keep themselves in the contest.
Marek Svatos would tally his first goal as a Predator at 10:19 as Colin Wilson took a shot coming down the wing that Bernier kicked out off his pads. The rebound came to Svatos, who was driving the net and was able to put the rebound past an out of position Bernier.
The Predators had taken a punch from the Kings. In their previous contests, they did not answer. Tonight, they answered.
The Predators went back to the power play with Matt Greene in the box for interference and made the Kings pay for their transgression. Colin Wilson walked in off the half boards and cranked a shot low along the ice. Patric Hornqvist was camped- where else- at the top of the crease and re-directed the shot past Bernier for his 12th goal of the season at 14:28.
After back and forth play, including a fight between Francis Buillon and Wayne Simmonds that left Buillon with a broken nose, the period ended with the Predators on top 3-2.
The third period opened with more of the back and forth play between the teams, with each team looking for the other to break. The Kings were the first to crack under the pressure as Sergei Kostitsyn whistled a wrist shot toward Bernier. Bernier got a piece of the shot but not enough to stop it, and the puck slid in the net just inside the far post to extend the Predators lead to 4-2 at 9:10 of the third period. This was Kostitsyn's 10th goal of the season.
That off season signing of Kostitsyn by GM David Poile looks mighty good right now.
Patric Hornqvist tallied his second goal at 15:33 of the third period as he buried a rebound given up by Bernier off a shot by Sergei Kostitsyn. After being down 2-0, the Predators had scored five unanswered goals.
That 5-2 margin would be the final score of the game as the Predators played a complete game, being physical, aggressively forechecking to create offensive opportunities, and playing solid defense. These are the hockey characteristics that were vital to the Predators win.
The aspect of this game that doesn't show in the score sheet is the heart that the Predators displayed in winning this game. Down 2-0 to a team that had dominated them this season, it would have been easy to fold under the pressure. Instead, this team manned up and came back in the face of definite adversity.
Heart will be critical to continuing the winning streak and piling up points.
This team is built around heart and character. Continue to play like this, and this team will continue to win and lash future opponents.
My three stars:
1. Colin Wilson
2. Patric Hornqvist
3. Sergei Kostitsyn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)