Predators Stop the Bruins In a Shootout

The Nashville Predators returned to Bridgestone Arena for one game against the Boston Bruins before departing on the road until after Christmas. So playing in front of the home crowd, where the Predators have been almost unbeatable, and against a team in the Bruins that has struggled to score lately, this looked like a matchup that would favor the Predators.

Instead, the Predators found themselves in a battle with the Bruins before they won it in a shootut.

Regulation and overtime ended tied at 2. Derek Roy scored the only goal in overtime and Pekka Rinne stopped all three Boston shooters for a 3-2 win for the Predators.

After a scoreless first period that saw both teams register 9 shots, the Bruins opened the second period absolutely dominating the Predators. They had the first 8 shots on net and tallied the first goal of the game just after their power play expired. The Bruins were swarming the net and got 4 shots on goal before Milan Lucic was finally able to get a puck past Rinne to make it 1-0.

The Predators answered with just 30 seconds to go in the second. With Lucic in the box for hooking, Shea Weber let a shot go from the blue line that was tipped by Mike Fisher in front past Tuukka Rask to tie the game.

The Predators took a 2-1 lead early in the third as James Neal passed the puck off the end boards right to the stick of Mike Ribeiro. He fired a rocket over the shoulder of Rask for his 9th goal of the season.

That lead lasted just under 2 minutes as Reilly Smith drove around James Neal and was able to slide the puck past Rinne.

Both teams has some chances in the remainder of regulation but neither could find the back of the net.

In overtime, the Predators were a turnover machine and Rinne had to make some huge stops to keep the Bruins off the board.

Roy notched the only goal in the shootout to secure the 3-2 win and the valuable second point for the Predators.

Some observations:

• If Pekka Rinne doesn't get serious consideration for the Vezina and the Hart, then the Pro Hockey Writers will have committed a criminal offense. Rinne has been outstanding so far this season and some of his saves have just been amazing. In overtime in particular he was outstanding, stopping the Bruins on a breakaway. He did a good job of tracking the puck through traffic and kept the Predators in the game while the offense was absent early in the second period. Rinne came into the game with a .937 save percentage and stopped 33 of 35 shots for a .943 save percentage in this game. 
• Rinne has now stopped 14 straight shootout attempts.
• The Predators power play goal tonight was their first power play goal on home ice since the home opener on October 9th. Yikes! This does point out, however, how strong the Predators have been at 5 on 5 scoring.
• The Predators penalty kill stopped all three of the Bruins powers plays. The Bruins first goal came just 8 seconds after their power play had expired.
• Remember how bad the Predators were in shootouts last season? They are 4-1 in the skills competition this season.
• The resiliency and the strength of the Predators is reflected in how well they have played in the one goal games. With the win tonight, they are now 13-4-2 in contests decided by one goal.
• Roman Josi led all Predators in TOI with 31:12. He has been playing at a very high level and against the best forwards of the opponent. He and Shea Weber have developed into one of the elite D tandems in the NHL.
• Speaking of Weber, one aspect of his game that has really stood out to me is how well he is skating this season. He seems faster and has been more active jumping into the offensive rush and creating some scoring opportunities in the offensive zone.
• David Poile has moved into second all time in the NHL for wins by a General manager. He now has 1,171, passing Harry Sinden.
• The Predators opened the second period back on their heels and were atrocious. They did not register their first shot on goal until the 14 minute mark of the period. A time out by Head Coach Peter Laviolette jolted the Predators back to life.
• Filip Forsberg picked up an assist for his 30th point of the year.
• The Predators are now 20-8-2, good for 42 points, and the win tonight keeps the Predators on pace with the Blackhawks and Blues, who have 45 and 44 points respectively. The Predators have 2 games in hand on the Blackhawks and 1 game in hand on the Blues.
• The Predators have not lost back to back games this season.

This was a hard fought, scrappy win by the Predators against a team that has lots of talent, the Bruins injuries notwithstanding.

More importantly, this keep the Predators right in the thick of a very competitive Central Division race.

They will have a chance to add to their win total on Thursday in their first meeting with the Minnesota Wild.

My three stars:

1. Pekka Rinne

2. Mike Ribeiro

3. Tuukka Rask

Bruins Outlast the Predators in OT 3-2

The Nashville Predators traveled to TD Garden looking to have a better showing against the Boston Bruins than their first meeting, a 6-2 Bruins win in Nashville on December 23rd.

The Bruins had rookie Niklas Svedberg in net, making his first NHL start, while the Predators went with Marek Mazanec.

With a rookie making his first start, the mission for the Predators was to get pucks on net and challenge Svedberg.

A scoreless first period saw the Predators get 8 shots on net, while the Bruins had 11. Mazanec made some good saves, especially on a Bruins power play to keep the game scoreless. The best Bruins save came not from Svedberg, but from Matt Bartkowski as the defenseman sprawled across an open net and used his helmet to block a shot from Matt Hendricks.

The Predators had some great scoring chances in the second period, but a combination of good saves by Svedberg and the inability to finish kept the Predators off the board.

That changed at 18:04 of the period as the Bruins got caught in a bad change. Mike Fisher carried the puck into the zone and fired a shot that Svedberg kicked out to the tape of Viktor Stalberg. Stalberg buried the shot into the open net to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.

The second period ended with the Predators on the penalty kill, which would carry over into the third period for 1:48.

As for that imperative to get shots on Svedberg...

The Predators had 16 shots in the second period to 3 for the Bruins.

The Bruins tied the game a 4:55 of the third period as Johnny Boychuk was left alone in the high slot and he blew a shot past Mazanec. The third period opened with the Bruins putting pressure on the Predators, and their jump and effort paid off with the tying goal.

That goal energized the Bruins and the Predators were back on their heels. The dominance and momentum of the Predators in the second period was now securely on the side of the Bruins and the Predators were going to have to step up and wrest it back.

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead at 12:29 as Jerome Iginla beat roman Josi driving to the net. he took a pass off the boards from Milam Lucic and tapped it past Mazanec. Iginla got inside of Josi and just overpowered him on the drive to the net.

The Predators responded at 14:35 as Svedberg gave up a long rebound of a Mike Fisher shot. The puck came to Shea Weber and he hammered a shot through traffic that beat Svedberg between his arm and his body to tie the game at 2.

In the remaining time, both teams created some scoring opportunities, but could not find the back of the net.

The Bruins won the game just 54  seconds into overtime as Brad Marchand beat a screened Mazanec from just outside the face off circle.

Some observations:

• The second period was a solid period of hockey for the Predators, one of the best they have played this season. They out skated the Bruins, won puck battles, and got the puck to the net to challenge Svedberg.

• As good as the second period was, the Predators were back on their heels for most of the third period. The talented Bruins had more jump and won the puck battles for most of the period.
• It was good to see the Predators respond, however. The Garden was rocking and the Bruins had all the momentum. Tying the game with just over 5 minutes to go gave the Predators life and they started skating, winning puck battles, and attacking the net.

• The Predators had 35 shots on net for the game including 16 in the second period. Their old nemesis- not finishing their chances- came back to bite the Preds in this game.

• Mazanec made some good saves and looked poised in the face of the pressure from the Bruins. while neither he nor Carter Hutton have firmly established themselves as the starter, Mazanec seems to have an edge.

• This was a much better effort by the Predators than their last outing against the Bruins, where they stunk it up and did not compete.

This team has shown that they can compete and win against some of the best teams in the NHL. They need to consistently apply that effort every night.

My three stars:

1. Brad Marchand

2. Shea Weber

3. Mike Fisher