Predators Cap An Improbable Comeback With a 3-2 OT Win Over the Coyotes

In a game that was meaningless for the Predators and one in which they played for stretches like it was meaningless, the Predators shocked the Coyotes and the Predator fans with a 3-2 OT win.

The Predators were down 2 goals going into the third period when they supplied the wow factor.

Shea Weber drew the Predators within 1 goal with his 14th power play goal of the season to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Looking for all the world like Predator fans were going home disappointed, the Predators scored with 19 seconds to go. With Pekka Rinne pulled for an extra attacker, Roman Josi launched a shot toward the net that Filip Forsberg redirected past Mike Smith to tie the game at 2.

Overtime has not been kind to the Predators, but they figured it out in their second to last game of the year.

Josi took the puck through the neutral zone with speed, drove the net, and slid the puck past Smith for the improbable game winner just 20 seconds into the extra period.

Some observations:

• Antoine Vermette gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead, deflecting a shot off his skate that was going well past the net. Shane Doan scored from the face off circle when the Predators failed to clear the puck. The play by Rinne was solid tonight, and I don't fault him for the 2 goals he gave up. It does point out that the defensive coverage has got to tighten up during the playoffs. There is no doubt Rinne will play his tail off but he is going to have to have some help out front.
• The Predators struggled for most of the night on the power play. The lone exception was Weber's goal. At times, the Predators wasted a lot of time just trying to get into the zone. That is an area of play that is going to have to improve in the playoffs.
• Speaking of Weber, he hit 20 goals for the third time in his career. His power play goal was his 14th of the year, tying Andy Delmore and Paul Kariya for a franchise high in power play goals.
• How about Filip Forsberg? His goal was his 33rd of the season and tied Jason Arnott for the franchise record. The thing about this goal that was exceptional to me is that it came with Forsberg right at the top of the crease battling for position. We have all seen and been amazed by some of his goals, but he has also shown that he is not afraid to go to the hard areas to score. 
• Big props to the fans. The team finished the season playing 41 home games at 99.2% capacity at the Bridge. 695,828 fans attended games this year, 4800 more than last season. The Predators sold out 35 of their 41 home games this season, eclipsing the previous high of 30 sellouts, set last season.
• The Predators are now 5-21-5 when they trail after 2 periods.
• The Predators are now 2-12 in OT.
• Anthony Bitetto returned to the line up after missing 9 games due to an injury.

As it was in the last game, this win was certainly not a thing of beauty. Yet it was beautiful from the standpoint that the Predators never quit and kept pressing.

And they were rewarded for that effort.

It is that kind of effort that the Predators will need in the playoffs.

My three stars:

1. Roman Josi

2. Filip Forsberg

3. Mike Smith

Predators Fast Start Leads to Win Over the Coyotes

Just like in their first meeting with the Phoenix Coyotes, the Nashville Predators jumped out to a big early lead.

Unlike that contest, which resulted in a shootout loss, the Predators made that lead hold up on the way to a 4-2 victory.

The Predators have now won 4 of their last 5 games. The Coyotes have dropped 3 in a row.

The Predators did their damage in the first period, jumping on the Coyotes for 3 goals. Nick Spaling opened the scoring, driving the slot and banging home a rebound of a Matt Cullen shot over the shoulder of Coyotes netminder Mike Smith at 1:02 of the period.

Mike Fisher took a pass from Colin Wilson and fired a shot from below the face off circle to give the Predators a 2-0 lead at 8:22 of the first period. Wilson controlled the puck in the corner and made a nice pass to Fisher, who did a good job of getting the shot off in traffic.

The Predators extended the lead to 3-0 as Viktor Stalberg used his exceptional speed to drive wide and force the Coyotes defense to turn and chase him. Stalberg put a nice pass through the legs of the defenseman onto the tape of Gabriel Bourque. Bourque made a nice fake to put Smith out of position and buried a backhand into the open net.

It was a good thing the Predators had a strong first period.

The Coyotes answered with a strong second period to make it a game.

Mikkel Boedker beat Predators goaltender Marek Mazanec five hole with a shot through traffic to get the Coyotes on the board at 9:34 of the second period.

That goal energized the Coyotes, and they began to control the puck and put pressure on the Predators. That pressure paid off as Tim Kennedy was able to gather in a rebound at the top of the crease and slide a backhand past Mazanec to make it 3-2 at 13:00 of the second period.

In the third period, the Coyotes spent a majority of the time in the Predators zone. They out shot the Predators 12-5 in the period, and Mazanec had to make some good saves to keep the Coyotes off the board. The Predators seemed content to play defense and just clear the puck, as they rarely established any offensive presence and zone time.

With Smith on the bench for an extra attacker, Shea Weber got the puck in the defensive zone behind the face off circle and banged the puck off the glass. The puck caromed off the glass and landed in the neutral zone and rolled into the open net to seal the win for the Predators at 19:25 of the third period.

I don't know if Shea called "bank" on the shot.

Some observations:

• The Predators were without Patric Hornqvist, who is called day to day with an upper body injury.

• The Coyotes lost the services of Shane Doan, who was injured and did not play in the third period.

• Gabriel Bourque's goal was a thing of beauty. The goal was set up by the speed of Stalberg, who made a sweet pass through the legs of a Coyote defender onto the tape of Bourque. Bourque showed great hands in controlling the puck, faking to the forehand, and pulling the puck to his backhand and lifting it into the net.

• David Legwand has reverted to form. He has been a non- factor the past several games, and was again tonight. Among the forwards, only Rich Clune had less ice time than Legwand. This team needs Legwand to step up his game and begin to contribute offensively.

• The Predators flirted with disaster in the third period. Content to sit back and play defense, the Coyotes dominated in offensive zone time and in shots. The Predators didn't seriously threaten Smith and establish offensive zone presence. More often than not, this is not a winning formula.

• Mazanec made some very good saves tonight and tracked the puck well through traffic. The Coyotes first goal came through traffic, and Mazanec didn't see the puck until the last instance, getting beat five hole. Mazanec has looked calm and has been positionally sound and has seemed to grow in confidence with each start.

The Predators are now 12-10-2 for 26 points, and sit 10th in the West. They are 6 points out of the 8th playoff spot, held by the Coyotes.

The Predators are going to have to continue to string together wins to climb back into playoff contention.

This means they are going to have to develop some consistency in their game and their effort every night.

And play a solid 60 minutes of hockey.

My three stars:

1. Gabriel Bourque

2. Mike Fisher

3. Marek Mazanec

Predators Blow 3 Goal Lead, Fall in SO to the Coyotes

The Nashville Predators embarked on their longest road trip in team history- 7 games in 17 days and over 6,000 miles of travel- by facing the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.

The Predators faced a big challenge in the Coyotes, who always play the Predators tough and are playing some very good hockey right now.

Unfortunately for the Predators, a game that started so well ended in a collapse that never should have happened.

Carter Hutton was in net for the Preds, while the Coyotes had Thomas Greiss in between the pipes.

The Coyotes opened the game with a ferocious forecheck, but credit the Predators for responding to the pressure and getting their legs going.

The Predators opened the scoring at the 11:00 of the first period as Matt Hendricks came off the bench on a change and David Legwand found him behind the defense with a cross ice pass. Hendricks ripped a shot from outside the face off circle that beat Greiss to the far post for a 1-0 lead.This was Hendricks first goal as a Predator.

The Predators made it 2-0 at 14:12 of the first period as Patric Hornqvist threw a puck at the front of the net. The puck deflected off Eric Nystrom and past Greiss. This was a prototypical Predator goal as the puck was sent to the front of the net with players crashing the net. For the Predators to have success, this was the style of hockey they needed to play.

The Predators had a 5 on 3 power play for just over a minute when David Legwand scored at 18:24 to make it 3-0.

A superb first period saw the Predators out shoot the Coyotes 11-5 and capitalize on their scoring chances. Again, this was the kind of start- and response- that the Predators needed against a very good team.

The challenge would be to continue this level of play over the next 40 minutes.

The Coyotes got in the board at 17:39 of the second period as Jordan Szwarz took a harmless shot at the net that Hutton misplayed. The puck slid under his glove and into the net to make it 3-1. Certainly not the type of goal that the Predators wanted to give up and hopefully it would not be a turning point for momentum in this game.

The Coyotes made it 3-2 at 10:09 as Derek Morris walked in from the blue line a ripped a shot past Hutton. The Coyotes D corps has some prolific scorers, but the Predators made it easy for the Coyotes as the defense had rotated to one side of the ice and Morris took advantage of an open lane to notch his 4th goal of the season.

The Predators needed an answer to the Coyotes push to swing momentum back to their side.

There was no answer by the Predators, but fortunately, they were able to hold off the pressure of the Coyotes for the remainder of the period.

The Predators out shot the Coyotes 8-6 in the second period, but there were stretches where the Coyotes had a decided territorial advantage.

The third period was shaping up to be a war, and the Predators were going to have to answer the inevitable push that the Coyotes would bring.

The Predators came out skating hard and putting pressure on the Coyotes. Nick Spaling put a shot on net from the boards that Greiss kicked out onto the stick of Paul Gaustad. Gaustad banged home the rebound at 15:45 to make it 4-2 Predators.

That was a huge goal for the Predators, not only to extend the lead back to 2, but also to take some of the momentum away from the Coyotes.

That regained momentum did not last long.

The Coyotes answered right back on the power play at 13:44 as Shane Doan hammered a shot from the right circle to make it 4-3.

The Coyotes tied the game at 11;43 as Antoine Vermette broke in on a breakaway and tucked the puck through the five hole of Hutton. The breakaway occurred as the Predators were trying to get a change and left the middle of the ice open for Vermette.

Neither team could get the winning goal in regulation, and after blowing a 3 goal first period lead, the Predators were now facing overtime.

David Legwand was called for holding early in the overtime period, and the Predators were going to have to rely on their penalty killers to salvage their chances.

And they did just that.

The Predators were able to survive the OT and now the second point would be claimed in the shootout.

In the first round of the shootout, Mike Ribeiro and Craig Smith were stopped. Radim Vrbata and Matt Cullen were stopped in the second round. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was stopped by Hutton and Mike Fisher hit the pipe. In the fourth round, David Rundblad and Gabriel Bourque were stopped by the netminders.

Mikael Boedker scored in the fifth round for the Coyotes and David Legwand was stoned by Greiss.

The Predators epic collapse was complete, dropping a 5-4 decision in overtime.

Some observations:

• Hutton gave up a soft first goal to the Coyotes, but was generally sound in net. The goals he gave up after the first one were solid goals that the Coyotes worked for along with some defensive breakdowns that assisted their effort.
• Mike Fisher didn't score, but played a very physical and competitive game. I liked his effort, and if he keeps up this level of play, he will find the back of the net.
• The Predators lost Matt Hendricks after a clean hit by Derek Morris in the second period. He is called out with an upper body injury.
• Viktor Stalberg was back in the line up. He showed good jump and saved a goal in the second period by sweeping a puck off the goal line. The Predators desperately need him to get his offensive game going.

This was a game that the Predators never should have lost. Yes, the Coyotes are an excellent team, but when you have a 3 goal lead, you have to lock down the other team. This game is evidence that this young team doesn't yet have a killer instinct.

They are going to have to develop one quickly.

My three stars:

1. David Legwand

2. Shane Doan

3. Keith Yandle

Predators Backs Against the Wall With a 1-0 Loss

The Nashville Predators dropped a 1-0 game to the Phoenix Coyotes at the Bridgestone Arena to fall behind in their series 3-1.

To say their backs are against the wall is an understatement.

The Predators offense was ineffective and rarely threatened Phoenix netminder Mike Smith. When they did threaten, Smith was equal to the task

The Coyotes Shane Doan scored at 14:25 of the first period as he went into the slot and fired a shot at Rinne that he got with his blocker, but it flipped over his shoulder, off Roman Josi, and into the net. for the only goal of the game.

The Phoenix defense made that goal stand up as they forechecked the life out of the Predators, rarely letting them come through the neutral zone with any speed, and one the Predators got into the offensive zone, choked the life out of them.

The Predators struggled to get any offensive rhythm because of the pressure the Coyotes put on the puck and throughout the game had more energy and jump than the Predators.

The offensive effort was disappointing to say the least, but give credit to the Coyotes for their play, because they ere better than the Predators tonight.

And therein lies the problem for the Predators. Their best offensive players were average and failed to create quality chances. It's telling that Colin Wilson, Marty Erat, Gabriel Bourque, and nick spaling all mustered just one shot on goal each. Jordin Tootoo, Sergei Kostitsyn, Matt Halischuk, and Paul Gaustad had none.

The Predators were 0-3 on the power play, as the Coyotes did a good job pressuring the puck and not letting the Predators get quality chances on Smith. The Predators did score on a power play late in the third period, but the goal was waved off as the officials struck with the dreaded "intent to blow" call.

The fact is that the Predators were outplayed throughout the contest. Rinne was exceptional, especially in the first period , stoning Mikkel Boedker alone in front of the net on one sequence. Frankly, without the strong play of Rinne, who seemed to be the only Predator ready to play, the score could have been much worse.

The Predators sat Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for the second straight game after their curfew violations before game 3. While many may second guess that decision, I concur with the call made by Head Coach Barry Trotz. The Predators squad on the ice tonight was the same one that played a dominant game 4 an captured a 2-0 victory. That squad that was so effective in game 4 did not come to play tonight.

The Predators have dug an immense hole. The task before them is monumental.

It is not insurmountable.

It will require each player that puts on the sweater Monday night to commit to win puck battles, to play balls to the wall on every shift.

Do that, and the series will come back to Nashville.

Fail to do so, and your backs will no longer be against the wall.

They will be out of the playoffs.

My three stars:

1: Mike Smith

2. Shane Doan

3. Pekka Rinne

Coyotes Want It More, Defeat the Predators 3-2

There are all kinds of statistical measurements in a hockey game: goals against; PK percentage; Corsi; and others. One measure that is not quantified is "want to", how bad do you want to win a tough game. The Nashville Predators were lacking in "want to" for two periods, and it cost them in a 3-2 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes at the Bridgestone Arena.

For two periods, the Coyotes kept the Nashville offense effectively off stride, limiting entrance to the offensive zone and thwarting chances once they were inside the zone. When Nashville did generate chances, Ilya Bryzgalov was very strong and cleaned up most of the opportunities that the Predators had.

After a scoreless first period which saw Nashville generate 4 shots and Phoenix just 5, the second period opened eventfully, with Alexander Sulzer hauling down Shane Doan on a breakaway. Doan was awarded a penalty shot just 10 seconds into the period, and he was stoned by Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne.

Phoenix would seize the momentum and the advantage in the tight checking contest by potting two goals in just 58 seconds. Keith Yandle launched a shot from the blue line that looked like it was tipped and went past Rinne for the first tally of the contest. The goal was awarded to Yandle by the official scorer.

Less than a minute later, Taylor Pyatt walked out of the corner against Ryan Suter, who had lost his stick. Pyatt got past Suter and was uncontested as he skated just inside the face off circle. His wrist shot beat Rinne high over his shoulder to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead.

The Predators would cut the lead to one as Sergei Kostitsyn would tally on the power play at 6:37 of the second. Kostitsyn took a pass from Mike Fisher in the low slot and roofed a shot over Bryzgalov to make it 2-1 Coyotes.

Late in the second period, Ryan Suter was run behind the net by Shane Doan. Suter did not have the puck and took a serious hit from Doan, which should have been a penalty. Nothing was called on the play, but Suter was called for unsportsmanlike conduct as he chirped at referee Chris Lee. More importantly, Suter suffered an upper body injury on the play and did not return to the contest. His status is unknown, according to Head Coach Barry Trotz.

Lauri Korpikoski would wire a shot past Rinne at 7:32 of the third period to give the Coyotes a 3-1. lead. On the play, the Predators turned the puck over on a failed clearing attempt, setting up Korpikoski for what would be the eventual game winner.

Mike Fisher appeared to have cut the lead to 3-2 as he rifled a shot past Bryzgalov at 13:28 of the third. The goal was waved off however, as Shane O'Brien was called for high sticking as he drove to the net. The Predator fans were chagrined at the no goal call, but it was legitimate, as O'Brien got his stick up high on a Coyotes defenseman.

The Predators would cut the margin to one as Shea Weber would rip a shot past Bryzgalov at 19:10 for his 12th goal of the season.

It was too little too late.

For two periods, the Predators offensive effort was stymied by the very type of game they like to play. The Coyotes aggressive forecheck did not give the Predators an opportunity to establish offensive flow or speed in the neutral zone. The Coyotes did a good job for two periods of limiting the offensive flow of the Predators when they were in the zone. The Coyotes did to the Predators what the Predators had done to the Canucks in their previous game.

This was a "want to" game, a game whose winner would be determined by who wanted it more. Which team would answer the challenge of the other and would eventually exert their will. Tonight, it was the Coyotes that wanted the game more.

By no means am I implying the Predators quit. They did not. They just didn't want this game as much as the Coyotes did, and that was the difference.

This is the tough stretch run to the playoff positioning. There will be a lot of games that will call for the guys on the ice to muster up the extra effort, to do the tough things and the little detail things that determine the outcome of a contest. The take away from this game is that every game now is vital, every game is a war for two precious points.

And you have got to want to win those two points.

My three stars:

1. Ilya Bryzgalov

2. Lauri Korpikoski

3. Sergei Kostitsyn