Predators Fall Flat Against the Penguins

The Nashville Predators traveled to the Consol Energy Center to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins and were looking for the win that would clinch a playoff spot.

They are still waiting.

Pekka Rinne was under siege by the Penguins and gave up 4 goals- two to Phil Kessel and one each to Kris Letang and Patric Hornqvist, the last 2 power play goals, before being pulled in the third period in favor of Carter Hutton.

Ryan Johansen and James Neal tallied for the Predators. Joey's goal tied the game at 1 and Neal's goal brought the Predators to within one at 3-2. Hornqvist's power play goal stretched the lead back to 4-2.

Nick Bonino made it 5-2 late in the third period.

That was the final score of a game that got away from the Predators, a game where they failed to respond to the attack and pressure of the Penguins.

Some observations:

• Stefan Elliott made his NHL debut on the Predators blue line. Ryan Ellis was injured in the previous game against Dallas and Elliott was the call up from Milwaukee. Elliott was paired with Barret Jackman.
• Colin Wilson was a healthy scratch. No surprise there as Wilson has had zero productivity.
• The Predators are reverting to mid-season form, and that is bad. Every mistake that the Predators are making is winding up in the back of the net. One can look at Rinne and say he played a bad game (it wasn't his greatest, but it was altogether bad), but there was a lot of scrambling in front of Rinne and some defensive breakdowns, especially on Kessel's first goal. The Predators are also regressing in their breakouts and offensive attack, and this is not a good sign as they try to go into the playoffs with some kind of momentum.
•  In their 3 game losing skid, the Predators have looked stunned by the intensity and pressure of their opponent. This is a very bad sign, because the playoffs are nothing but intensity and pressure. This team has got to begin to again elevate their game or the consequences will not be pretty.
• The Predators PK was woeful, giving up 2 goals on 4 man advantage attempts by the Penguins.
• Let's face it, the blue line has gotten unsettled. Elliott looked lost; Jackman was often slow and out of position, and Matty Ek has been getting a bit loose in his coverage. yes, the Preds missed Ellis, but the fact remains that the play on the blue line in front of Rinne has been lax. This group has to get their game back together quickly.
• I like the response from Johansen and Neal. Both of these players have been consistent in their game and are still contributing.
• In this skid, the Predators have been getting whipped in the face off dot. Tonight was no different as they won 23 of 53 draws.
• One difference in the Predators right now is that there is no secondary scoring from the third and 4th lines. The bottom six forwards have to contribute. Goals from the 4th line are gravy, but the third line, that had been clicking, has gone cold. That line has to heat up again for the Predators to have the kind of scoring that they need to have to win games.

Ugly.

This three game losing streak has been ugly. Ugly from the standpoint that in 2 of the 3 games the Predators haven't matched the intensity and desperation of their opponents.

That is not a good sign at all.

And it has to change quickly.

My three stars:

1. Phil Kessel

2. James Neal

3. Kris Letang

Predators Road Trip Ends With Another Ugly Loss

The Predators lengthy road trip ended with a stop in Pittsburgh against the Penguins. The Predators faced a daunting task attempting to secure a win and finish this road trip at .500.

Marek Mazanec got his second start in a row, and the Predators welcomed back Mike Fisher, who had missed the previous 4 games with a foot injury, and Gabriel Bourque, who had returned to Nashville the prior game for the birth of his first child.

The Penguins had Marc-Andre Fleury in net.

The Predators needed to get out to a better start and show more compete than they had in their previous three games.

They did just that.

The Predators drew first blood at 2;28 of the first period as Kevin Klein took a shot from the point with Gabriel Bourque and Patric Hornqvist in front of the net. Bourque was able to tip the puck through the 5 hole of Fleury to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.

The Penguins tied the game at 12:36 of the period as they won an offensive zone face off and Pascal Dupuis rifled a shot over the shoulder of Mazanec. This came just after the Predators had killed off a too many men penalty.

With Ryan Ellis in the box for hooking, Evgeni Malkin blasted a shot from the point that was tipped by James Neal over the shoulder of Mazanec at 15:56 for a 2-1 Penguins lead. Mazanec had no chance to stop the re-direct.

The period ended with the Penguins holding a 2-1 lead. The Predators out shot the Penguins 10-9 and did a good job of getting pucks to the net and creating traffic and challenges for Fleury.

While the Predators needed- and got- a good start, they were going to have to play a full 60 minutes to win this game.

The Predators forgot that to open the second period. The Penguins came out flying and out shot the Predators 7-1 through the first 7 minutes. Mazanec made some great saves to keep the Pens off the board.

The Penguins made it 3-1 as Kris Letang came out of the corner and squeezed the puck through the pads of Mazanec from a sharp angle at 7:58. This was a goal that Mazanec cannot give up.

The Penguins made it 4-1 as they drove into the offensive zone and Jussi Jokinen drove into the offensive zone and pushed the defense back. he dropped a pass for Brandon Sutter who fired a slap shot past Mazanec at 18:37.

The Penguins had stormed out in the second period and taken it to the Predators. Once again, the Predators had no response for the push from an opponent.

Now the question for the Predators would be if they would have any kind of a response in the third period.

Carter Hutton opened the third period in the net for the Predators.

Fortunately, the Predators were able to keep the Penguins off the board in the third period.

Unfortunately, the Predators never threatened the Penguins net in the third. The Predators only got 3 shots on goal in the third, and were out shot 33-18 for the game.

Some observations:

• The way this road trip ended makes a reasonable observer wonder if the wins to open the road trip were a fluke. The Predators got good scoring and were playing loose and relaxed. In the final four games, the Predators reverted to form- defensive breakdowns; spotty goaltending; and absolutely no offense. If this is the real Predators team, then this will be a long and ugly season.

• The shaky goaltending along with the uncertainty of Pekka Rinne's health makes it almost certain that GM David Poile is going to have to make a deal for a goaltender. One has to wonder about the wisdom of entering the season with an unproven backup given the questions that surrounded Rinne's health and durability.

• This is not a good team right now. There is no one on the roster that can be considered a consistent offensive threat or that can even possess the puck consistently. This falls on the shoulders of GM David Poile, who has built this team that is on the ice. Once an opponent gets a lead, they are able to choke off the Predators offensive efforts and the Predators do not have the personnel to create the offense necessary to get back into the game. Poile has built a team of grinders and character guys- and you have to have those- but there are no offensive players that scare an opponent. This will make for a very long and ugly season.

This team has taken a big step backwards. Right now, the team has to learn to compete and play sound, fundamental hockey and hope for the best.

Until they do, the losses will continue to pile up.

My three stars:

1. James Neal

2. Brandon Sutter

3. Evgeni Malkin

Penguins Pilfer Points From the Predators in a 4-3 OT win

The Nashville Predators dropped their third consecutive overtime game to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 4-3 as Kris Letang scored at 3:49 of the extra period to allow the Pens to sneak away with a win.

Nashville fielded a mix and match lineup as Ryan Suter, Matthew Lombardi, and Marcel Goc were out due to injury. Nevertheless, the Predators took the attack to the Penguins early on in the contest.

David Legwand put the Predators on the board just 53 seconds into the contest as he took a nice pass from Jordin Tootoo and beat Pittsburgh netminder Marc-Andre Fleury glove side to stake the Predators to a 1-0 lead. This goal was due to the effort by Tootoo, as his aggressive forecheck forced the Penguins defense to turn the puck over. Legwand was the beneficiary of Tootoo's effort as Fleury had no chance to stop Legwand, who was parked at the side of the net and buried his shot.

The Predators took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but not without a bit of luck. Pittsburgh slipped the puck into the net with a five hole shot against Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne. Fortunately, the clock had run out and after a brief review, it was ruled no goal.

The Pens would get the tying tally at 19:06 of the second period as Evgeni Malkin would score off assists from Mike Comrie and Kris Letang.

Nashville would once again take the lead 2-1 on the power play as Cody Franson rifled a shot from the blue line that went top corner past a screened Fleury.

That lead would last approximately five minutes before Sidney Crosby scored a goal that Pekka Rinne would like to have back. With Crosby driving the net from the right faceoff circle, Rinne inexplicably pulled off the post and gave Crosby the tiniest of openings. Crosby exploited Rinne's mistake and scored a goal scorer's goal inside the near post to tie the game.

The Predators would once again regain the lead at 5:03 of the third period as Patric Hornqvist took a nice pass from Colin Wilson and beat Rinne top corner to the glove side.

That lead would stand until 12:56 of the third, when Sidney Crosby scored his second goal into a virtually open net. Malkin drove the net and fired a shot that Rinne stopped with his pads. The rebound kicked out to Crosby, who was alone at the side of the net and he buried the shot.

The game would remain scoreless for the remainder of the third period, thanks to the play of Rinne, who stopped a number of quality scoring chances. The Predators were on their heels for much of the third period and were outshot 17-5 in that period.

The Predators nearly won the game in overtime as a shot from J.P. Dumont hit the crossbar and then the back of Fleury. It fell tantalizingly close to the goal line, but would not go slide over.


The Letang game winner dropped the Predators to 3-0-3 on the season. The positives that can be taken from this is that the Predators have played some very good teams with a depleted lineup and have come away with points.

The negative aspect of these losses is simply this: the Predators have been outplayed late in these contests. For the Predators to have success, they are going to have to tighten up their game in the late stages. They have to maintain their offensive aggressiveness and capitalize on scoring chances. Sitting back on their heels is not they way this team has to play to have an opportunity to win games.

A brief word about the officiating. I feel that calls usually even themselves out during the course of the game. Tonight, the officials were cowardly in not calling Malkin for leaving his feet and boarding Jordin Tootoo. This was a dangerous play that was somehow, in the view of referees Gord Dwyer and Mike Leggo, was not a penalty. If the League is serious about protecting players, those are the calls that have to be made. This call did not decide the game, but was an egregious example of the inconsistency of the officiating in games this season.

It is imperative that the Predators continue to improve their play. This is a long season and it will be a war. Getting dominated late in the game like the Predators did tonight will come back to haunt this team. I am grateful for the points and playing some of the best teams to overtime without some key players.

This team will, however, have to develop a killer instinct. Protecting the late game leads is a matter of will and desire. It is a matter of maintaining aggressiveness. It is doing the things that got you a lead when you have that lead.

No doubt there are positives from this stretch. There are things that should be learned. The future of this team will be decided by learning these lessons and applying them in the contests to come.

My three stars of the game:

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Kris Letang

3. Jordin Tootoo