As good as the Nashville Predator's win over the Blackhawks was on Saturday, their re-match in Chicago was horrid. A third period meltdown cost the Predators a chance to sweep the back to back contests with their division rivals, as the Blackhawks turned a close game into a blowout, defeating the Predators 6-3.
The Predators were victimized by a third period that was a horror show. Tied at 2 at the end of two periods, the Predators took a 3-2 lead on the second goal of the night from J.P. Dumont. From that point on, the wheels absolutely came off for the Predators.
Before we get to the debacle that was the third period for the Predators, let's see how we got there.
The Predators opened the game with good jump and were out-skating the Hawks in the first period. Their effort paid off with four power play opportunities in the first period, and they were able to cash in on two of them.
The first tally of the game came from Marty Erat with Jonathan Toews in the box for holding.Erat buried a rebound past Hawks goalie Marty Turco to give the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:04 of the period.
Chicago would tie the game on a Dave Bolland score at 6:38, as he beat Nashville netminder Anders Lindback.
The Predators would respond with their second power play marker of the period as J.P. Dumont corralled a rebound of a Shea Weber shot that was initially blocked by Brian Campbell. He beat Turco with a quick wrist shot to give the Predators a 2-1 advantage.
Chicago would tie the game with the only goal of the second period as David Legwand made a lazy croos ice pass at the Predators blueline that Bolland intercepted. Bolland put a spectacular move on Ryan Suter, the only Predator player that was back to stop the rush, and beat Lindback five hole.
To this point, the contest had been fairly even, Nashville had outshot the hawks at the end of two period by an 18-16 margin and had skated evenly with the Hawks through forty minutes.
As I said last night, it is a 60 minute game, but tonight the Predators unfortunately checked out after 40 minutes.
Oh, the third started well. J.P. Dumont potted his second goal of the night off a clean face off win by rookie Chris Mueller. Dumont gathered in the puck and beat Turco cleanly with a quick wrister that went high glove side.
3-2 Predators and we have a game that the good guys can win.
Not so fast.
A game that the Predators had played evenly with the Blackhawks suddenly spiraled out of control. Quickly.
With Ryan Suter in the box for holding, the Blackhawks struck on a power play opportunity of their own.Troy Brouwer was left all alone in front of the net and gathered in a rebound of a pad save by Lindback and knocked the puck into an open net as Lindback was out of position. Brouwer's goal came at 9:19 of the third
Tied at 3, the Hawks turned up the pressure and the Predators did not respond. Brouwer circled out the corner, split Marcel Goc and Shea Weber, and found himself alone in the low slot. His wrist shot beat Lindback to the glove side at 9:59 of the third.
Two goals in 40 seconds and the Hawks were flying and the Predators were back on their heels. And the assault was just beginning.
Brian Bickell scored at 14:08 and Jonathan Toews added the finisher at 16:58.
From up 3-2 with 11 minutes to go in the contest to down 6-3 at the end. Indicative of how bad the third period was for the Predators, they were outshot 18-5.
Absolutely putrid.
Compounding the sting of this loss was the fact that the Predators lost Francis Buillon in the first period as he was boarded by Brouwer. The Predators spent the rest of the contest with just five defensemen.No excuses, but you have to believe that fatigue was a factor late in the game for the D corp. Ryan Suter logged 32:43 of ice time; Shea Weber had 29:40; and Kevin Klein had 21:43.
With this loss, the Predators are now tied with the Blackhawks with 54 points, but have 2 games in hand. The Predators lead the season series with the Blackhawks 3-2.
This is another example of how this team has to play a full 60 minutes to win a game. This was a game the Predators could have won, but their 11 minute lapse in the third period bite them hard.
There will be no rest for the weary, as the Predators are now headed to Phoenix to play the red hot Coyotes.
The importance of that upcoming game? The Coyotes sit in fourth place in the West, one point ahead of the Predators.
All the games in this tightly bunched Western Conference race are important. They are yours for the taking, boys. However, ya gotta play a full 60 minutes.
And avoid those pesky meltdowns.
My three stars:
1. Dave Bolland
2. Troy Brouwer
3. J.P. Dumont
.
Showing posts with label Marty Turco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marty Turco. Show all posts
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Predators Win Second in a Row with a 4-3 SO Win over Chicago
When a team endures a losing streak, one of two things can happen. They can hang their heads and limp along; or the losses can be extremely clarifying, causing a team to focus on what it takes to win games and get back to those fundamentals.
For the Nashville Predators, the latter has occurred, as they won their second straight game, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena.
For Nashville, this was their second consecutive shootout victory.
It is obvious that the Blackhawks are an explosive team, and for the Predators to have an opportunity to win this game, they had to be sound defensively and limit the chances of the Hawks dangerous offensive players. For most of the night, the Predators did an excellent job of controlling the big guns of the Hawks, holding Kane, Toews, Hossa, and Sharp off the board.
The Predators did a great job of controlling play in the neutral zone and not allowing Chicago many opportunities to enter the offensive zone with speed. When the Hawks gain the zone, the Predators blocked numerous shots and clogged the lanes, limiting secondary chances.
That is not to say that the Hawks didn't challenge Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne. Rinne made some big saves to keep Chicago off the board. Rinne was solid in net during the regulation and overtime period, and was brilliant in the shootout.
Chicago is not without offensive prowess, and shutting down the big guns doesn't mean that they cannot score. Jack Skille proved that tonight with two goals, the first coming at 19:07 of the first period. Skille took a nice pass from Brian Campbell and beat Rinne stick side with a shot that went just inside the post to stake the Blackhawks to a 1-0 lead.
Nashville would answer at 2:37 of the first period on a nice tic tac toe passing play.Shane O'Brien took a nice pass from Marcel Goc and beat Chicago netminder Marty Turco with a quick wrister that went top shelf. Turco could not get across his net fast enough to stop the shot from O'Brien, and his goal sent the Nashville crowd into a frenzy.
That energy would amp up as Shea Weber unleashed a shot on the power play that went through Turco to give the Predators a lead at 5:37 of the second. Turco was in good position, but couldn't handle the velocity of the cannon shot that Weber sent to the net.
Chicago would tie the game at 2 at 6:51 of the period as Viktor Stalberg would beat Rinne high stick side.
The Hawks would once again regain the lead as Skille scored his second of the night at 9:10 as he fired a wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle that would beat Rinne high glove side.
The Predators looked to have tied the game as Patric Hornqvist scored early in the third, but the goal was waved off as it was ruled that Hornqvist had kicked the puck into the net in a goal mouth scramble.
The tie would come for the Predators at 10:23 of the third period as Cody Franson sent a wrist shot from the point low along the ice. The puck went in cleanly, and Turco had his eyes taken away by Hornqvist who was screening in front of the net. The puck found the far post and the Predators had evened the score.
Neither team could solve the others netminder for the remainder of the period, and once again the Predators were heading to overtime.
With Patrick Kane in the box for tripping, the Predators had several good scoring chances, but Turco bailed out the Hawks.The power play showed good movement and generated scoring opportunities, a positive sign for this unit that has struggled at times this season.
In the shootout, Pekka Rinne stopped Jonathan Toews. Cal O'Reilly buried the first attempt for the Predators as he roofed a shot to the top corner over Turco's glove. Rinne stopped Patrick Kane. Turco stopped a weak attempt by Steve Sullivan. Rinne then stoned Patrick Sharp, and the Predators skated off with their second win in a row and their second in two meetings with the Blackhawks.
The Predators welcomed Marty Erat and Ryan Suter back to the lineup tonight after both had missed games due to injury. Their presence was positive for the team and they logged quality minutes. Erat picked up an assist tonight. The team needs them back in the lineup consistently.
Did you notice the regulation scoring for the Predators? All three goals were from defensemen. Opportunistic scoring, a hallmark of Predator hockey, was evident tonight.
The Predators did a good job of pressuring Turco tonight. They were aggressive and effective on the forecheck. They limited second chances. They got solid goaltending.
They played Predator hockey. Winning hockey.
Losing several games in a row leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It also teaches painful lessons. Lessons that if taken to heart can turn around a team and their fortunes.
My three stars of the night:
1. Cal O'Reilly
2. Jack Skille
3. Cody Franson
For the Nashville Predators, the latter has occurred, as they won their second straight game, beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena.
For Nashville, this was their second consecutive shootout victory.
It is obvious that the Blackhawks are an explosive team, and for the Predators to have an opportunity to win this game, they had to be sound defensively and limit the chances of the Hawks dangerous offensive players. For most of the night, the Predators did an excellent job of controlling the big guns of the Hawks, holding Kane, Toews, Hossa, and Sharp off the board.
The Predators did a great job of controlling play in the neutral zone and not allowing Chicago many opportunities to enter the offensive zone with speed. When the Hawks gain the zone, the Predators blocked numerous shots and clogged the lanes, limiting secondary chances.
That is not to say that the Hawks didn't challenge Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne. Rinne made some big saves to keep Chicago off the board. Rinne was solid in net during the regulation and overtime period, and was brilliant in the shootout.
Chicago is not without offensive prowess, and shutting down the big guns doesn't mean that they cannot score. Jack Skille proved that tonight with two goals, the first coming at 19:07 of the first period. Skille took a nice pass from Brian Campbell and beat Rinne stick side with a shot that went just inside the post to stake the Blackhawks to a 1-0 lead.
Nashville would answer at 2:37 of the first period on a nice tic tac toe passing play.Shane O'Brien took a nice pass from Marcel Goc and beat Chicago netminder Marty Turco with a quick wrister that went top shelf. Turco could not get across his net fast enough to stop the shot from O'Brien, and his goal sent the Nashville crowd into a frenzy.
That energy would amp up as Shea Weber unleashed a shot on the power play that went through Turco to give the Predators a lead at 5:37 of the second. Turco was in good position, but couldn't handle the velocity of the cannon shot that Weber sent to the net.
Chicago would tie the game at 2 at 6:51 of the period as Viktor Stalberg would beat Rinne high stick side.
The Hawks would once again regain the lead as Skille scored his second of the night at 9:10 as he fired a wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle that would beat Rinne high glove side.
The Predators looked to have tied the game as Patric Hornqvist scored early in the third, but the goal was waved off as it was ruled that Hornqvist had kicked the puck into the net in a goal mouth scramble.
The tie would come for the Predators at 10:23 of the third period as Cody Franson sent a wrist shot from the point low along the ice. The puck went in cleanly, and Turco had his eyes taken away by Hornqvist who was screening in front of the net. The puck found the far post and the Predators had evened the score.
Neither team could solve the others netminder for the remainder of the period, and once again the Predators were heading to overtime.
With Patrick Kane in the box for tripping, the Predators had several good scoring chances, but Turco bailed out the Hawks.The power play showed good movement and generated scoring opportunities, a positive sign for this unit that has struggled at times this season.
In the shootout, Pekka Rinne stopped Jonathan Toews. Cal O'Reilly buried the first attempt for the Predators as he roofed a shot to the top corner over Turco's glove. Rinne stopped Patrick Kane. Turco stopped a weak attempt by Steve Sullivan. Rinne then stoned Patrick Sharp, and the Predators skated off with their second win in a row and their second in two meetings with the Blackhawks.
The Predators welcomed Marty Erat and Ryan Suter back to the lineup tonight after both had missed games due to injury. Their presence was positive for the team and they logged quality minutes. Erat picked up an assist tonight. The team needs them back in the lineup consistently.
Did you notice the regulation scoring for the Predators? All three goals were from defensemen. Opportunistic scoring, a hallmark of Predator hockey, was evident tonight.
The Predators did a good job of pressuring Turco tonight. They were aggressive and effective on the forecheck. They limited second chances. They got solid goaltending.
They played Predator hockey. Winning hockey.
Losing several games in a row leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It also teaches painful lessons. Lessons that if taken to heart can turn around a team and their fortunes.
My three stars of the night:
1. Cal O'Reilly
2. Jack Skille
3. Cody Franson
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