In A Battle of the Best, Predators Beat the Lightning In OT

The Best of the West, the Nashville Predators, faced the Beast of the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning, at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators took this game in over time 3-2 for a League leading 22 home ice wins.

A spirited first period was scoreless but not for lack of effort by both teams. Andrei Vasilevskiy stoned Mike Ribeiro from point blank range with a sprawling pad save, while Pekka Rinne stopped all 10 shots he faced.

The Predators got on the board in the second period on goals by Seth Jones and Taylor Beck. Jones ripped a slap shot over the shoulder of Vasilevskiy and inside the far post that hit the goal net and came out so fast it was called a no goal by the on ice officials. After a video review, the call was corrected and Jones had his 6th goal of the season and the Predators had a 1-0 lead.

Taylor Beck made it 2-0 as he battled to the front of the net and slammed home a rebound of a Paul Gaustad shot. The goal was purely a result of Beck fighting through a defender to get to the front of the net and getting into prime scoring position.

Going into the third period leading 2-0, the Predators needed to play good defense and continue to generate chances in the offensive zone.

That didn't happen as the Lightning totally outworked and out hustled the Predators and tallied twice to tie the game.

Brett Connolly got the Bolts on the board as he banged home a rebound of a Valtteri Filppula shot. Connolly got to the front of the net unchallenged by the Predators defense and Rinne had no chance to stop the shot.

Nikita Kucherov tied the game with his 21st goal, and the Predators were back on their heels and chasing the puck throughout the period.

Regulation ended with the teams tied at 2.

In overtime and with time winding down, James Neal fired a wrist shot from the face off circle that beat Vasilvskiy between the pads for the game winner.

Some observations:

• The Predators turned the puck over 14 times, the bulk of those coming in the 3rd period. Several of those turnovers resulted in Rinne having to make some good saves to keep the Lightning off the board. Puck management was about as poor as I have seen in a while, and turning the puck over like the team did tonight is a formula for disaster. This area has to improve because good teams are more often than not going to make you pay for sloppy puck management.
• Once again, an aggressive forecheck by an opponent caused all sorts of problems for the Predators. The Lightning have some very talented players that play good team defense and they stymied the Predators on their breakouts and coming through the neutral zone, especially in the third period. Puck support was horrible tonight, as often a defenseman would be pressured by two forecheckers and have no one making themselves available for a pass. This often resulted in turnovers and the Predators be bottled up in their defensive zone.
• Great to see the line of  Gaustad, Eric Nystrom, and Taylor Beck rewarded with a goal tonight. They often draw the toughest defensive assignments and it was good to see them get on the scoresheet tonight.
• Speaking of Gaustad, Beck, and Nystrom, they were matched up against Steven Stamkos most of the night. Stamkos is arguably the best player in the NHL and they held him without a point tonight.
• With the injury to Mattias Ekholm, Anthony Bitetto was called up from Milwaukee. Bitetto logged 10:09 of ice time and dropped the gloves with Brett Connolly, whom he proceeded to hammer. Bitetto is a big body who is not afraid to mix it up physically and skates well. He was paired with Victor Bartley tonight on the third D pairing.
• Viktor Stalberg was also called up with Colin Wilson injured. Stalberg played on the second line with Mike Fisher and James Neal and picked up an assist tonight. I would really like to see Stalberg get his game going. He is big and fast and has a good shot. If he can find consistency to his game, he could be a big contributor for the Predators.
• Seth Jones continues to mature and elevate his game. His goal was a rocket of a shot, perfectly placed inside the far post. Jones is drawing some bigger minutes on the second D pair and is playing well. With his goal tonight, he has a career high five game point streak (3G-2A).
• The Predators have a league best 24-4-6 record in one goal games.
• James Neal's overtime goal was his 5th game winning goal of the season.
• The Predators won 57% of their faceoffs and were led by Paul Gaustad, who won 14 of 19 for 74%.
• Shea Weber led the Predators in TOI with 30:56.
• The Lightning have a very good young goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy. He is athletic and made some very good saves, especially a first period save on Mike Ribeiro.

Make no mistake, the Lightning are an excellent team with lots of talented players. This wasn't a pretty win, but it was a win nevertheless. The Predators continued to attack and press and prevailed because they didn't back down.

There are some things to work on and improve, but the fact is that the Predators found a way to win and still sit first in the NHL.

And the view from there is great.

My three stars:

1. James Neal

2. Pekka Rinne

3. Andrei Vasilevskiy

Predators Use Potent Power Play to Defeat Lightning

The Nashville Predators are thankful their power play was clicking. Heck, it wasn't just clicking, it was potent.

The Predators scored all three goals on the man advantage to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 at Bridgestone Arena in their first game back from the Olympic break.

Of the 5 goals scored in this contest tonight, 4 came off the power play.

The Predators are desperately trying to claw their way back into playoff contention, and every game is critical for this team.

The game did not begin the way the Predators wanted. In fact, in the first period the Predators looked like they were still on the Olympic break.

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead off two goals by Martin St. Louis. the first was one of the easier goals he will ever score as he gathered in a rebound off the pads of Carter Hutton and banged the puck into an open net for a 1-0 Lightning lead at 5:26 of the first period.

St. Louis notched his second goal on the power play. His shot from the face off circle appeared to be stopped by Hutton but it trickled between his pad and the post to make it 2-0 at 9:13 of the first period.

The period ended with the Predators rarely challenging Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. Shots were 9-8 in favor of the Lightning.

The Predators used the power play to get going in the second period. With Nikita Kucherov in the box serving a penalty for too many men on the ice against the Lightning, Ryan Ellis found Matt Cullen at the side of the net with a slap pass. Cullen buried a shot over the shoulder of Bishop and inside the far post to cut the lead to 2-1 at 12:05 of the second period.

Roman Josi tied the game at 13:16 of the second with the Predators again on the power play. He walked in from the blue line and wired a shot over the shoulder of bishop with Patric Hornqvist in front providing a screen.

Hornqvist had a few testy confrontations with Bishop, with Bishop throwing a few cheap ,shot punches at Hornqvist as he was crowding the front of the net.

So it was only fitting that Hornqvist would get the game winner- again on the power play at 13:56 of the third period. Mike fisher took a shot that Bishop could not control, and Hornqvist got his stick on the puck at the top of the crease and jammed it between the pads of Bishop for the go ahead goal.

The Predators did a good job of shutting down the Lightning for the remainder of the game, although they solidly rang a shot off the post after the Predators had taken the lead.

Some observations:

• After looking sluggish in the first period, the Predators got their legs moving and upped their intensity to take control of the game. The Predators defense was outstanding in the final two periods, allowing only 7 shots in the final 40 minutes. The Lightning have a potent offense and the Predators did a great job of disrupting their offensive flow.

• The Predators have the 7th ranked power play in the NHL, connecting at 20.4%. After tonight, they have raised that percentage to 21.7% by going 3 for 5 on the man advantage.

• Matt Cullen's goal was his first in 29 games. he last scored November 27th.

• Hornqvist scored his first goal in 10 games.

• Roman Josi picked up his 12th point in his last 13 games. He now has 9 goals on the season.

• Carter Hutton got a lot of help from his defense, but had a solid game. He is now 7-2-2 in his last 11 games.

• Shea Weber picked up two assists and is tied for the team lead in scoring with 40 points. Weber also lead the team in time on ice, with 28:18.

• This is only the second win of the season for the Predators when trailing after the first period. They are now 2-17-4 when trailing after the first 20 minutes.

The Predators have to amass points in this five game home stand, and this was a good start. They were resilient and determined and refused to fold when down early.

They will have to keep it up to get back in the playoff race.

My three stars:

1. Patric Hornqvist

2. Marty St. Louis

3. Shea Weber