Predators Road Trip Ends With a Thud, Fall to the Flyers In OT

The Nashville Predators wrapped up a five game road trip with an afternoon matinee in the City of Brotherly Love to take on the Flyers. The road trip has been a disaster for the Predators, as they have dropped 3 of 4 games, being shut out in three of the games and being outscored 13-3.


The game started well for the Predators as Filip Forsberg scored on a wicked wrist shot from the slot to beat Michael Neuvirth just 1:19 into the game to give the Predators a 1-0 lead. That lead stood for less than 3 minutes as Michel Del Zotto beat Pekka Rinne to the top corner to tie the game.

Colin McDonald broke the tie in the third period as he beat Eric Nystrom to the front of the net and was able to slid a shot between Rinne and the post for a 2-1 lead.

This game looked as if it was going down the toilet until Mike Fisher won a puck battle in front of the net and banged the puck past Neuvirth to tie the game at 2 with just 20 seconds remaining in regulation.

In the overtime, the Predators were guilty of a specious too many men on the ice call, and the Flyers capitalize on the power play as Shayne Gostisbehere ripped a shot from the slot to beat Rinne to give the Flyers a 3-2 win.

Some observations:

• With Paul Gaustad being injured in the Buffalo game and Miikka Salomaki being placed on injured reserve, the Predators recalled Colton Sissons from Milwaukee.
• Welcome back, Filip Forsberg! Fosberg's first period tally was his first goal in 17 games and the Predators definitely need Prince Filip to start heating up. And wow, does Forsberg have a quick release. The puck was barely on his tape before it was in the back of the net. this was Forsberg's 3rd goal of the season.
• Part of the Ptredators woes on this road trip has been the Predators lack of effectiveness on the power play. They are 0-13 going into this game and 1 for their last 19 with the man advantage. This unit is going to have to improve their efficiency for this team to have success in this season.
• The injury bug is starting to bite the Predators as they lost Gabriel Bourque for the game after a first period injury. Bourque doesn't score a lot but logs some important minutes on the third line and on the penalty kill.
• The Flyers did a good job of disrupting the Predators breakouts and in the neutral zone. The Predators like to attack with speed, but the Flyers broke up passes and slowed the Predators attack. This is where the Predators need to get the puck deep and work hard to retrieve it, something they did inconsistently in this game and have done in previous games where they have struggled.
• Filip Forsberg looked as if he were the only Predator on the ice ready to play. The rest of the team was spotty in their play and lacked any jump. Maybe it is the end of a grueling road trip, but this team cannot come out without fire in their belly and expect to win many games.
• In this game, and throughout this road trip, the Predators gave up way too many odd man rushes. whether it is defensive breakdowns or poor puck management, the Predators need to clean up this aspect of our game. This puts too much pressure on Rinne to solve these problems and more often than not bites this team in the ass.
• Mike Fisher is not an elite, number one center. Age and injuries limit his ability to claim that status. But dang, he probably has as big of a heart as anyone on this team. His goal late in regulation was just a matter of will and heart and that is something that can't be coached. 
• I know this has been a tough rough trip, both physically and mentally, and it showed. The Predators just didn't seem to have the jump they normally would and lost the majority of puck battles and time of possession to the Flyers. Hopefully coming home for a few games will be a boost for this team.
• The Predators were out shot 6-1 in OT and never threatened the Flyers net. Again, a lack of urgency and hustle doomed them. 

This road trip will hopefully serve as a wake up call to this team. It takes attention to detail, playing with grit and jump, and bringing from the first to the last whistle to win games. If they do not, it will be ugly when they start to do battle in the Division.

My three stars:

1. Filip Forsberg

2. Michael Neuvirth

3. Shayne Gostisbehere

Predators Salvage Two Points With A Shootout Win Over the Sabres

The Nashville Predators went into their game with the Buffalo Sabres with a mandate to shoot the puck.

They did just that at First Niagara Center, firing 36 shots on Sabres goalie Michael Neuvirth in regulation.

It took regulation, overtime, and for the second game in a row for the Predators, a shootout, before the Predators prevailed 2-1.

Neuvirth was up to the challenge, stopping 35 of those shots he faced, giving up a late power play goal to Mike Ribeiro.

Ribeiro's goal was critical for the Predators because they had given up a second period goal to Tyler Ennis when the a bad line change left Ennis wide open and he beat Carter Hutton to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead.

The Predators defense, other than that breakdown, was generally good. They held the Sabres to 13 shots in regulation, although they gave up two breakaways that Hutton made great saves to stop.

In the overtime, the Predators had the final minute on a power play, but could not capitalize.

In the shootout,  Mike Santorelli and Filip Forsberg scored for the Predators in a four round shootout while Tyler Ennis was the only scorer for the Sabres as the Predators won the game 2-1.

Some observations:

• Lines were juggled once again for this game. Neal, Ribeiro, and Forsberg were reunited. Fisher centered Craig Smith and Matt Cullen. Mike Santorelli centered Colin Wilson and Taylor Beck. Nystrom, Gaustad, and Bourque remained intact on the 4th line.
• D pairs were Weber, Josi; Ekholm, Franson; and Jones and Bitetto.
• Paul Gaustad returned to the First Niagra Center, where he played 479 games for the Sabres.
• In their last two games, the Predators had gotten away from what has brought them success. Too many cute plays in the offensive zone and breakdowns in the defensive zone and it has cost them. Simple hockey- getting pucks to the net and attacking have been replaced with attempting fancy passes and the results have shown in their play of late. This team is good, but getting away from their fundamentals is not going to yield consistently good results. This game saw them get back to getting pucks on net and attacking the goal. That is how they are going to have to play to continue to win games.
•  Carter Hutton played a very good game, with the only Sabres goal coming off a bad line change by the Predators that resulted in Ennis beating Hutton on a shot that would have been very difficult to stop. Hutton stopped two breakaways and made some good saves through the course of the game.
• The power play struggled for most of the night. The first 5 chances the Predators had did not generate much quality in terms of shots and there wasn't a great sense of urgency. That said, Mike Ribeiro did convert on the Preds 6th opportunity to tie the game. Their 7th power play, which came with 2:58 remaining in the game, was totally inept and didn't generate a shot.
•  The 8th Predators power play came with 1 minute remaining in overtime. Once again, the man advantage unit could not get control of the puck and create any quality chances.
• You have to give props to Michael Neuvirth. The Predators threw 36 shots at him in regulation and he made some outstanding saves to keep the Sabres in the game. You can't fault the Predators for their effort in the offensive zone and for getting pucks to the net. Neuvirth was just solid between the pipes, and this game looked for all the world like a hot goalie was going to steal a game from the Preds.
• The Predators got 38 shots through on Neuvirth, but the Sabres also blocked another 23 shots. Think Head Coach Laviolette's message to shoot the puck got through to these guys?
• The Predators now have 87 points, and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. Anaheim and Montreal have 81; the Islanders, Tampa Bay, and St. Louis have 80. 

This wasn't a pretty win by any stretch, but it was a pretty win.

Huh?

Pretty from the standpoint that the Predators never relented in their attack and kept persevering a red-hot goalie that almost stole a game.

That relentlessness is going to be needed in the last quarter of this season.

My three stars:

1. Mike Ribeiro

2. Michael Neuvirth

3. Filip Forsberg

Capital Punishment: Caps Punch Out the Predators 4-1

There are times the Nashville Predators looks like Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.

No, not an offensive force.

Instead, like Sedin getting punched by Brad Marchand in the Stanley Cup finals, they often look like a team that is getting punched in the face and not responding.

In their game against the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center, the Predators watched the Capitals out skate and out hit them consistently throughout the first period en route to a 2-0 lead. The Capitals did pretty much what they wanted and the Predators did not respond.

Anders Lindback started in net for the Predators, while the Capitals went with Michael Neuvirth. Lindback was under assault throughout the period, while Neuvirth had very little to do at his end of the ice.

The Predators recorded their second shot on net after 11 minutes had elapsed off the clock, if you want an indication of how ineffective the offensive effort was.

Alex Ovechkin notched his 11th goal of the season at 7:42 of the first period as he drove the net and beat Jonathan Blum to the low slot. His wrist shot beat Lindback over the shoulder to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.

Nicklas Backstrom got his 12th goal of the season on a nice wraparound goal. He used the net to scrape off Jerred Smithson and beat Lindback to the far post at 15:51 to make it 2-0 Capitals.

Frankly, if the Capitals had not missed some open shots, the score could have been much worse.

The Capitals out shot the Predators 11-4 in the first period, but totally dominated the play as the Predators offense failed to show up in this period. The Predators continued their poor offensive effort that started in the St. Louis game, and unfortunately, that game did not appear to be an aberration.

In the second period, the Predators skated better and generated 8 shots on net to 3 for the Capitals. The Predators once again caught a couple of breaks as they gave up two 2 on 1 rushes that the Capitals could not convert. Although they generated 8 shots, there were only a few quality scoring chances, and Neuvirth was up to the task of stopping the Predators.

The Predators had three power plays in the the third period, and never really challenged Neuvirth on any of them. One failed to generate any shots on goal. The power play has been surprisingly potent up to this point for the Predators, but the Capitals PK was hustling and shutting down quality chances for the Predators.

Through two periods, the Predators had reverted back to their old and frustrating ways by passing up shots in favor of an extra pass. The fact is that the Predators lack the elite finishers that make this style of play a solid offensive strategy. The Predators were going to have to commit to shooting the puck and crashing the net if they were going to get back in this contest in the third period.

The Predators finally found the back of the net at 4:40 of the third period as Sergei Kostitsyn stole the puck and weaved his way through the Capitals defense and let a snap shot go from the face off circle that beat Neuvirth. Good to see Kostitsyn find the back of the net again. This was his fifth goal of the year.

The Predators began to skate and challenged the Capitals (finally!). The started buzzing the net, firing the pucks, and controlling play. This was the Predators team that was finally employing their formula for success.

The Capitals seized momentum back at 10:21 of the third period as Alex Semin skated in and unleashed a laser to the top corner that beat Lindback to make the score 3-1 Capitals. Now the Predators faced the double challenge of overcoming a Capitals lead and the enemy that was the clock.

With Craig Smith in the box for hooking, the Capitals tallied on the power play as Troy Brouwer tipped a shot from the point by Dennis Wideman to make it 4-1 at 13:46.

The Predators had a chance to cut into the deficit as Joel Ward was called for slashing at 14:16, but the Predators failed to get a shot on the power play.

The Capitals spent the rest of the period choking off the Predators offense, and the final score was 4-1 Capitals.

The frustrating thing about this team is their consistently inconsistent effort. You would think that by now this team would have learned that they have to play a full 60 minute game. Apparently, that has not been ingrained into their psyche even this deep into the season. One bad period can and often does spell defeat for this team, and they have continued to struggle with this concept.

Until they grasp the concept of a 60 minute game, they will continue to get punched out by their competition.

Kinda like Daniel Sedin.

My three stars:

1. Nicklas Backstrom

2. Alex Semin

3. Sergei Kostitsyn