Predators Start the Long Road Trip With a 4-1 Win Over the Oilers

The Nashville Predators began a two week road trip at Edmonton to face off against the suddenly hot Oilers, who came into the game winners of four straight contests.


For the Predators, it was going to be critical to get not only this game but this road trip off to a good start.


They accomplished both objectives as they defeated the Oilers 4-1.


Although the first period was scoreless, the Predators outshot the Oilers 10-3 and out skated and out chanced the home team.


In the second period, the Predators scored two goals in 1:26 to take control of the game.


Craig Smith notched his second goal of the season as he beat Ben Scrivens short side through traffic at 6:23.


Taylor Beck fired a puck into a wide open net off a nice cross ice pass from Colin Wilson at 7:49.


The third period would be critical and the Predators would need to keep up the pressure and not allow the Oilers to seize momentum. They did just that as Shea Weber launched a rocket from the blue line that Scrivens never saw to make it 3-0 just 24 seconds into the period.


The Oilers finally broke through against Pekka Rinne at 8:54 of the third perios as Taylor Hall banged home a rebound of a Ryan Nugent Hopkins shot.


Craig Smith tallied his second goal of the game and third of the season off a 2 on1 rush with Matt Cullen. Cullen saucered a pass to Smith, who blew the puck past Scrivens to make it 4-1 at 12:24 of the third period.


Rinne and the defense locked down the Oilers for the remainder of the game, and the Predators recorded their 6th win of the season.


Some observations:

• The Predators were victimized by the "intent to blow" call by referee Ian Walsh in the first period. Craig Smith jammed a puck in on Ben Scrivens and into the back of the net. However, the goal was waved off immediately by Walsh, and his explanation was that he was intending to blow the whistle, even though the puck was in the back of the net.

• Matt Cullen returned to the line up after missing 8 games with an injury. He looked very good on a line with Derek Roy and Craig Smith, skating well and creating some chances. That line showed some jump all night and got the first goal of the game by Smith off of nice pressure on the net. This was Smith's third goal of the season.

• After being a healthy scratch the past few games, Gabriel Bourque returned to the line up and looked good, skating hard and getting some scoring chances. the Swedish Chef needs to get his game going if he wants to stick in the line up, and the team can certainly use some production from him.

• Taylor Beck got his first goal of the season off a nice assist from Colin Wilson. Wilson moved to center the line with Beck and Olli Jokinen and looked comfortable in that role. Wilson is probably more suited to being a set up man than a pure goal scorer, and if he can settle into this role with some consistency, it will benefit his game and his line.

• The Oilers started the season 0-4 before winning their last 4 games to bring their record to .500. Interestingly, all their losses came against Western conference teams, while all their wins have come against Eastern Conference teams.

• Rinne made some good saves tonight, but in my opinion looked a bit "scrambly" and not as relaxed tonight.

• In games last season, the Oilers used their speed and attacking style to overwhelm the Predators defensive system. Tonight, the Predators turned the tables and attacked all night and forced the Oilers to go into defensive mode. The effect was to curb some of the offensive explosiveness of the Oilers and create the opportunity for offensive chances by the Predators. The Predators also did a good job of selectively activating the defense in the offensive zone and putting pressure on the Oilers defense.

• The Predators out shot the Oilers 35-27.

• The Predators blocked 24 shots by the Oilers.

This was a solid game from start to finish, and it is good to see the Predators dominate a team that had owned them last season.


The start to the road trip was just what the Predators needed. Now they have to continue to build on that effort. They will have their chance on Friday night in Calgary.


My three stars:


1. Craig Smith


2. Roman Josi


3. Pekka Rinne

Predators Embarrass Themselves in 5-1 Loss to the Oilers

For some reason, the Edmonton Oilers have owned the Predators over the past couple of seasons. There is no doubt that the Oilers have talent up front, but this is a team that has struggled on the blue line and has used six different goalies this season.

It didn't matter in the contest between the two teams at Rexall place.

The Oilers jumped out to a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-1 thrashing of the listless Predators.

Sam Gagner opened the scoring in the first period as was left alone in front of the Predators net and slapped home a rebound of a Martin Marincin shot that Pekka Rinne could not control. The goal came with just 35 seconds remaining in the first period.

The Oilers extended their lead in the second period as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins took advantage of a great pass and fired the puck into an open net on the power play at 8:18 of the period. Taylor Hall made it 3-0 at 14:48 as he beat Rinne with a beautiful backhand to the far post.

The Predators were finally able to get a puck past Viktor Fasth to make it 3-1 at 18:39 as Gabriel Bourque banged a puck into the net for his first goal in 29 games. Bourque was battling in front and finally (FINALLY!!) found the net.

It just got worse for the Predators in the third period as Jordan Eberle scored just as a Predators penalty expired. He shot a backhand that caromed off the shoulder of Rinne and into the net to make it 4-1 at 8:39.

Eberle struck at 10:01 as he beat the defense to the puck and then beat Rinne with a backhand that as realistically a bad goal from a sharp angle to make it 5-1.

That was it for Rinne and Carter Hutton came into to the game.


Some observations:

• The Predators had some good scoring chances, but once again their inability to finish their chances bit them in the butt. More troubling for the Predators is they did not get to many rebounds to get second scoring chances.

• The Predators looked like a team that is just playing out the season. There was not a lot of compete from this team tonight.

• Rinne let in in two bad goals, but he also did not get a lot of help from the defense in front of him. The Oilers forwards constantly beat the defense back to get into prime scoring position. This was one of the worst games for the D corps in a while.

• It's beyond obvious that this group of forwards is not capable of consistently scoring. It is time, in my opinion, to give some of the talented young guys in Milwaukee an opportunity to see some meaningful ice time in the remainder of this season. Forsberg and Jarnkrok certainly cannot do any worse than what the Predators are putting on the ice right now.

• The Oilers swept the season series from the Predators 3-0. There are no words.

This was a sad and lackluster outing by the Predators. Frankly, there was nothing positive to take away from this game.

The remainder of the season is about playing for pride and a roster spot.

It will be interesting to see who steps up.

My three stars:

1. Jordan Eberle

2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

3. Sam Gagner

Predators Fall Flat Against the Oilers

On a day where turkey is the main dish, the Nashville Predators played a turkey of a game, falling to the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 at Bridgestone Arena.

The Oilers have struggled this season, but when you look at their performance against the Predators last year, one knew they could come into this game and give the Predators fits.

They did just that all night long.

The Predators had a difficult time handling the forecheck of the Oilers, which disrupted their breakouts and slowed them coming through the neutral zone. Once in the offensive zone, the Predators had a hard time establishing their effective offense that served them well in the game last night in Columbus.

When the Predators did create some quality scoring chances, Ilya Bryzgalov, getting his first start as an Oiler netminder, was very good, shutting down the Predators scoring chances.

The Oilers tallied two goals during 4 on 4 play with Paul Gaustad and David Perron both in the box for roughing. Jeff Petry walked in from the point and fired a nice pass that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins re-directed past Marek Mazanec at 5:32 of the second period.

Just 51 seconds later, Taylor Hall got lose at the top of the crease and lifted a backhand past Mazanec to make it 2-0.

Jordan Eberle tallied an empty net goal at 19:03 for the final margin of victory for the Oilers.

Some observations:

• A scary moment for the Predators and Shea Weber. A puck was deflected off a stick into the face of Weber. He dropped immediately to the ice before skating off to the locker room. Weber was bloodied and did not return for the third period. It is unknown if he suffered any damage to his eye. Weber is one of the Predators that does not wear a visor.

• The Predators managed to get 33 shots on Bryzgalov and some of them were quality chances, but Bryz was up tot the task. You had to know that he would be jacked up for his first NHL game in a year and that the Predators were going to have to be sharp to beat him. Tonight, they were not sharp enough.

• The Predators faced an aggressive and disruptive forecheck all night and had a difficult time solving the Oilers pressure. That pressure created numerous turnovers and opportunities for the Oilers. Maybe because it was the second game of a back to back, but the Predators opened the game looking sluggish, which did not help in handling the speed and aggressiveness of the Oilers.

• Seth Jones struggled tonight and his game has taken a step back recently. This is probably to be expected for a rookie and for the volume of games and minutes that he has played. His passes and puck handling have not been sharp, and he has been the perpetrator of several turnovers. Before Weber's injury, Jones was dropped down to the third D pairing with Victor Bartley.

• Colin Wilson has struggled of late and cannot get his offensive game going. Tonight, it appeared that he missed a wide open net with a shot. The Predators need Wilson to get back to consistently being a contributor on offense.

• The Predators were shut out for the 6th time this season. Ouch!

The Predators needed this game and this two points. This team cannot give away points to teams that are below them in the standings.

Time to put this one behind them and get back on the horse Saturday against the Flyers.

My three stars:

1. Ilya Bryzgalov

2. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

3. Taylor Hall

Predators Slide Past the Oilers 3-2

The Nashville Predators faced off against the Edmonton Oilers in a critical contest at the Bridgestone Arena. The Predators are fighting for a playoff spot, and their margin of error is razor thin. They have to win games and they have to take care of business against struggling teams like the Oilers.

Mission accomplished.

It wasn't pretty at times, but the Predators captured a 3-2 win over a potentially explosive Oilers team that has given the Predators fits at times.

Sergei Kostitsyn finally broke out of his season long funk with a goal and an assist. Kevin Klein had a goal, and Chris Mueller had a highlight reel goal to account for the Predators scoring.

Pekka Rinne outdueled Devan Dubnyk for the win, his 12th of the season.

The Oilers opened the scoring on the power play as Patric Hornqvist was in the box for interference at 7:42 of the first. Just 11 seconds into the power play, Corey Potter took a shot from the point that was deflected by Taylor Hall to give the Oilers a 1-0 lead. 

The Predators answered at 11:51 of the first period as Marty Erat worked hard on the boards in the Oilers zone and dug the puck out and got it to Mike Fisher. Fisher spotted Sergei Kostitsyn driving the net on the off wing and put the puck right on his tape. Kostitsyn lifted the puck over the shoulder of Dubnyk for his third goal of the season.

The Predators made it 2-1 at 4:31 of the second period as Marty Erat drove the puck into the Oilers zone. The puck was worked over to Kostitsyn, who drove to the left side of the net. Mike Fisher was creating havoc in front of the net, and Kostitsyn forced Dubnyk to move to front his drive. Kostitsyn found Kevin Klein pinching down from the blue line, slid him the puck, and Klein buried the puck into the open net.

The Predators stretched their lead to 3-1 at 11:33 of the second as Brandon Yip pushed the puck into the Oilers zone. He found Chris Mueller with the pass, and Mueller used his speed to avoid a hit from Mark Fistric. Mueller then beat Dubnyk over his shoulder for what would prove to be the game winning goal. Mueller's shot was a dandy, as he had a very small space in which to shoot the puck, and he was perfect on his shot.

The Oilers made things interesting in the third period as Shawn Horcoff took a shot that Rinne appeared to have smothered. Instead, the puck trickled through Rinne's pads and over the goal line to make it 3-2 at 7:03 of the third period.

The Predators were able to hold off the Oilers for the remainder of the period and had their third win in a row.

More importantly, they won a game they needed to win and should have won.

Some observations:

Good To See You

Finally! Sergei Kostitsyn got his offensive game back into gear with a goal and an assist. Kostitsyn hustled all night, made some good decisions with the puck, and was engaged throughout the game. These elements have been lacking for most of the season from Sergei, and the Predators need  this kind of effort from him in their remaining games.

Welcome Back

Patric Hornqvist returned to the line up after missing 8 games due to injury. Hornqvist was his usual crash and bang self, and the Predators need him to get his game going quickly and score those dirty goals from the hard areas. His production and grit have been missed. Badly.

Mueller Time

Chris Mueller continues to play solid hockey, using his speed and hustle to create chances. His goal tonight was a jaw dropper as he deposited the puck into a very small opening against a big goalie that was perfectly positioned. It bodes well for the Predators if Mueller can bring some of the scoring touch he has shown at the AHL level.

Fisher Is Flying

Fisher's assist tonight gives him a point in his last seven games. The Predators obviously need his production, but Fisher has been leading by example as well. His hustle is off the chart; he has been physical; and he is reliable in all zones. Fisher's line with Erat and Kostitsyn has begun to click, and the Predators need them to keep bringing that effort.

Final Thoughts

The Predators are now 14-13-6 and have 34 points. They will be tied with San Jose in points for the 8th spot in the West, but San Jose has a game in hand. I still believe the cut line for the playoffs will be 56 points. If that is true, the Predators will need to win 12 of their last 15 games.

That is a very steep hill to climb.

But it can be done.

The Predators have started to get some players healthy with the return of Hal Gill and Patric Hornqvist. They have started to play Predator hockey again. They have a majority of their remaining games at home.

The task is difficult.

I think you are up to the challenge, boys.

My three stars:

1. Sergei Kostitsyn

2. Marty Erat

3. Chris Mueller

Predators Blow Another Third Period Lead, Fall to the Oilers 3-1

The Nashville Predators made their first trip of the season to the great white North, taking on the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. In the Oilers, the Predators faced a young, talented, speedy squad that could be very dangerous with the puck. Sorta like what the Predators had hoped to be at the outset of this season.

Pekka Rinne got the start again in net for the Predators, while the Oilers went with Nikolai Khabibulin.

It was scoreless after one period, but not for lack of effort by the Oilers. Once again, the Predators allowed a flurry of shots on Pekka Rinne, getting outshot by a 12-4 margin. Rinne was once again called upon to make some critical stops to keep the Oilers off the board. I hope you are taking your vitamins and getting lots of rest, Mr. Rinne, because this team in front of you is certainly going to give you all the work you can handle.

Both teams went 0-2 on the power play, and all 4 of Nashville's shots in the period came on their power plays. To say the Nashville offensive effort was absent in the first period is generous.

There is no doubt the young Oilers squad is talented, and they are only going to get better. The young talent of the Oilers seemed to be a step faster throughout the period, and it was the aforementioned Rinne that kept the Predators in the game. Here is a blinding flash of the obvious: the Predators are going to have to improve their defensive zone coverage and cut down on the shots and scoring chances of the opponents. Fail to do so, and this is going to be a long season.

One has to wonder what Head Coach Barry Trotz says to his team during an intermission. It is probably not suitable for those with sensitive ears, because the Predators opened the second period playing the type of hockey of which they are capable. The Predators were skating better, getting good breakouts, and getting the puck deep.

Nevertheless, the Oilers were still pressing, and a shot was rocketed toward Rinne, who blocked it out with his stick to the blue line. The puck was picked up by Sergei Kostitsyn, who skated the puck in on Khabibulin and fired a backhand shot that trickled through the Oiler netminder for a 1-0 Predators lead at 18:58 of the period.

The remainder of the period was an up and down affair, as both teams moved the puck well and created some scoring chances. The Oilers were defensed much better by the Predators, who held them to 7 shots for the period while the Predators recorded 5 shots.

Nursing a one goal lead going into the third period was going to be another test for the young Predators to see if they could shut down a potent Oiler offense.

Throughout this contest, the Predators played with fire by taking a number of penalties. They finally were burned when Ryan Suter was in the box for holding and Taylor Hall took a nice cross ice pass from Ryan Nugent Hopkins and had an open net in which to shoot the puck. Hall's first goal tied the game at 1 at 5:29 of the third period.

It was now up to the Predators to respond.

At 7:31 of the third, we saw how the Predators responded. Their response? Blowing defensive zone coverage and allowing Shawn Horcoff to make a beautiful pass to Ryan Smyth who was wide open in front of the Predators net and easily beat Rinne to make it 2-1. Both Jonathan Blum and Kevin Klein slid toward Horcoff and left Smyth wide open to attack the net. On the play, the Predator forwards on the ice were late getting back in defensive support, and this comedy of errors cost the Predators a goal.

Ryan Jones scored an empty netter at 19:22 to seal the win for the Oilers.

The absolutely horrid statistic from this game? The Predators only mustered 12- count, em, TWELVE shots on goal for the entire game. Three shots on goal in the third period. THREE shots. Now I am not a hockey coach, but to me that is not a formula for winning hockey games.

Here is the fact that all Predator fans must deal with: this is not a good hockey team. The young guys are making too many mistakes and the veterans have not stepped their game. Missing in action to date this season are Nick Spaling, Patrick Hornqvist, Matt Halischuk, and Cal O'Reilly, none of which have produced any sort of offense.

This is the second game that the Predators have blown a third period lead. This is a sign of tentativeness, lack of confidence, lack of experience, whatever it might be. Regardless, it is a problem that must be corrected quickly or this team will find itself way outside the playoff race early.

I have given this team a pass in their recent contests and called their flaws "learning experiences". The time for these painful learning experiences is, in my view, over. It is time for this team to begin to play disciplined hockey, gritty hockey, Predator hockey.

Right now, they are not even close to doing so.

My three stars:

1. Shawn Horcoff

2. Taylor Hall

3. Sergei Kostitsyn

Predators Slide Past the Oilers in a SO 3-2

The Nashville Predators continued their lengthy road trip with a stop in frigid Edmonton, and for moments in the game, it looked as if the Predators had a brain freeze in their defensive zone. The Predators prevailed over the Oilers 3-2 in a shootout, but it was a game that shouldn't have been this close and yet was a game the Predators nearly threw away.

There is no doubt that the Oilers have some very fine young talent on their squad, and these young players at times show flashes of excellence. At the same time, the Predators made the likes of Taylor Hall and Linus Omark look very good.

The Predators opened the scoring at 11:53 of the first period as Alexander Sulzer was on the ice after spending two minutes of shame in the sin bin for holding. Cody Franson got an outlet pass to Sergei Kostitsyn, who drove hard to the net. Sulzer jumped in the play on the rush and was the beneficiary of a nice pass from Kostitsyn as he tipped a backhand past Edmonton netminder Devan Dubnyk. Congratulations on your first first NHL goal, Mr. Sulzer.

After a scoreless second period, the third period became more frenetic and the Predators once again demonstrated a frustrating inability to put away a team.

The Oilers tied the game at 2:03 of the third period as Liam Reddox made Cody Franson look like a pylon at the blue line. Franson got trapped in no man's land as he neither played the puck nor took the body and Reddox easily chipped the puck off the boards and past Franson. Shane O'Brien had Andrew Cogliano on the off side of the ice, but left his man to pick up Reddox. Reddox had an easy pass to make to Cogliano, who beat Pekka Rinne with the game tying goal.

Three players broke down on this play, and it cost the Predators. Franson was beat at the blue line; O'Brien overplayed the puck; and the forward coming back, Patric Hornqvist, was late getting in on the play. On unfortunate set of breakdowns and now we have a tie game and new life and energy for the Oil.

The Predators would regain the lead on the power play as Joel Ward was battling in front of the net and was able to tip in a shot from Alexander Sulzer at 14:05.

2-1 Predators and just under six minutes to go in the game. Lock this one down and skate away with the win.

Uh, what part of "lock this one down" did we not understand?

The Oilers would tie the game at 16:13 a Dustin Penner dug a puck off the boards and slipped it to Taylor Hall. Hall is dangerous, but when he breaks in on the goaltender alone, he is nearly unstoppable. That is what the Predators allowed- Hall breaking in on Rinne. Alone. Hall roofed a shot to the top corner to tie the game at 2.


The game remained scoreless for the the rest of regulation time, and the Predators and Oilers were heading to overtime.

Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne was outstanding in this game, and I cannot fault him for the two goals allowed. Rinne made some outstanding saves to keep the Oil off the board. The two goals allowed in regulation were off of a 2 on 1 breakaway and a breakaway goal.

Rinne would make his most amazing save in the OT period, however. Amazing because he didn't touch the puck, yet managed to keep it out of his net. Let me tell you how we got there.

The Predators would have an abbreviated power play of 1:14 going into OT. The Predators could not capitalize on their man advantage, so they figured they would see if the Oilers could score with the man advantage.

Ryan Suter was called for tripping at 1:21 of OT, and the Oil did a good job of buzzing the Predators net and generating some scoring chances. In a scramble around the net, Rinne dropped his stick, but continues to battle and try to locate the puck. The Oilers put a shot on net that got past Rinne and appeared to be going in the net at the far side post.

Remember that dropped goalie stick? Guess where it was laying. On the ice, just inside the far side post. The puck hit the stick and deflected out. For the Oilers, the puck tantalizingly lay on the goal line before spinning harmlessly away. For Predator fans, there was a massive and collective sigh of relief.

No scoring in overtime and we were heading to the shootout, where Rinne has been dominant. Tonight was no different.

The Oil elected to shoot first , and phenom Linus Omark was the first shooter. Omark approached with speed, tried to deke Rinne, who said O-No-You-Don't-Mark, as he poked the puck away from the rookie. Marcel Goc was stopped by Dubnyk, and the teams were tied after one round.

Rinne stopped Edmonton's second shooter, Sam Gagne.

The second shooter for the Predators was an exciting forward....wait...what? A defenseman? Cody Franson?!

Sure enough, Cody Franson came over the boards to take the second shot for the Predators, and he buried a quick snap shot over the glove hand of Dubnyk. Franson looked incredibly poised in his first attempt at the shootout and also made the coaching staff look like geniuses for sending him out.

Rinne stopped Taylor Hall and the Predators had a hard fought victory. Frankly, harder than it should have been.

Focusing on the positives, the Predators continued to pile up the points, and these two points were important and were going to be difficult to capture. As stated earlier, this is an Oilers team that has good young talent, and they are going to be dangerous in a few years. This was a team that the Predators could have overlooked if they just looked at records. They almost did. Operative word: almost.

The Predators now stand at 27-15-6 and have 60 points. They are currently second in the Central Division, behind Detroit, who has 64 points. The Predators are in 4th place in the West, 2 points ahead of Anaheim.

The Predators have now captured 6 of the possible 8 points on this road trip. They play in Calgary tomorrow night.

Bring your "A" game boys and you want have to slide by the Flames

My three stars:

1. Pekka Rinne

2. Alexander Sulzer

3. Cody Franson











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