The Nashville Predators suffered a 4-3 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bridgestone Arena that was in a word, embarrassing.
Throughout the game, the Predators were unable to get through the neutral zone and turned the puck over more times than I can count. Rather than skate the puck through the zone or dump it deep and establish the cycle in the offensive zone, the Predators were content to make blind crossing passes or drop passes that were quickly gathered in by the Jackets and started the other way. Frankly, the inability to get through the neutral zone against this team was inexplicable and plagued the Predators all night long. Even more baffling was the persistence in making bad- or dumb- passes that resulted in turnovers.
When the Predators got into the offensive zone, they had trouble establishing their cycle and offensive flow against the aggressive Jackets defense. The Predators reverted to form on a couple of occasions, and when they did, they challenged Curtis Sanford in the Jackets net and tallied three goals for their efforts. The problem for the Predators was that they were too inconsistent in doing the essential things that would have lead to a victory.
Colin Wilson opened the scoring for the Predators at 18:29 of the first period as he gathered the puck in a goal mouth scramble and lifted it over Sanford to make it 1-0 Predators.
Jeff Carter tied the game at 1 at 3:29 of the second period with his first goal of the year. He used Ryan Suter as a screen and beat Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne with wrist shot over his shoulder.
The Predators took the lead again on the power play as Mike Fisher scored from in front of the net off a rebound of a Shea Weber shot at 10:27 of the second period.
The Predators could not seize the momentum and hold on to the lead as Columbus tallied on the power play with Ryan Suter in the box. Vinny Prospal lifted a backhand past Rinne to the short side. Rinne got most of the puck but could not stop it completely and it fluttered into the net to tie the game at 2.
The BJ's took a 3-2 lead at 1:45 of the third period as R.J. Umberger scored on the power play with Ryan Suter again in the box for roughing.
Nick Spaling tied the game at 3 as he corralled a rebound in the low slot and slipped the puck five hole on Sanford at 14:24 of the third.
There was no more scoring in the third period, and off to overtime, which has not been kind to the Predators. Going into this OT, the Predators were 1-3.
Make it 1-4.
James Wisniewski scored past a screened Rinne at 2:43 of the overtime period to end the BJ's string of futility with 27 straight losses at Nashville.
Yes, the Predators got a point. That is the positive.
Losing to a team like Columbus is the major negative. In a word, it is embarrassing.
Actually, two words. Unacceptable.
Sloppy play has been the hallmark of the Predators in the last two games. Tonight, their poor play bit them in the ass. Frankly, the Predators got what they deserved in this contest.
The Predators got David Legwand back in the lineup, and Head Coach Barry Trotz inserted him as the center between Patric Hornqvist and Colin Wilson, breaking up the dynamic line of Hornqvist, Wilson, and Craig Smith. Legwand was generally ineffective with his line mates, and in the third period, Smith was reunited with his line. This line should have never been disbanded, and in doing so, the offensive effort suffered.
The Predators have lost their identity in the last two games. The team has tried to be cute and play a finesse game rather than their blue collar style of hockey. Tonight, when they played their game, they were effective. Too often, they deviated from that game and it cost them a win.
Hopefully this team has learned their lesson about what it takes to be successful. They did not do that consistently in this game.
Keep on being inconsistent in your play, and there will be more embarrassing losses.
My three stars:
1. Curtis Sanford
2. Colin Wilson
3. James Wisniewski
Showing posts with label Vinny Prospal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vinny Prospal. Show all posts
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Youth Is Served: Predators Best the BJ's 3-2
The first game of the NHL season always brings questions about a team, questions that are answered on the ice. For the Predators, this is a season of questions. Will the young forwards gel and be able to score. How will the young blue liners perform? Will this team have chemistry?
So many questions.
The Nashville Predators faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena to try to answer some of those questions.
Pekka Rinne, bouncing back from a touch of the flu, got the start for the Predators, while Steve Mason was in net for the BJ's. Both Rinne and Mason were looking at a lot of new faces in front of them,and for the Predators, a lot of those faces were awfully young. This was going to a baptism of fire for the new Predators.
After a scoreless first period that saw both teams generate some scoring chances, the Predators finally tallied on a power play opportunity (yes, you read that correctly!) as David Legwand fed the puck to Sergei Kostitsyn who walked in alone on Steve Mason. Mason was forced to focus solely on SK74, who at the last moment slipped a nice backhand pass to a pinching Ryan Suter, who buried the puck into the open net at 5:10 of the second period..
The BJ's would answer at 14:19 of the period as a Shot by Jeff Carter was not handled cleanly by Rinne and Vinny Prospal cleaned up the loose puck as he was crashing the net. As you can imagine, the tally set the Columbus crowd off into a frenzy.
It was going to be important for the Predators to turn the momentum back in their favor and take the crowd out of it. Someone would need to step up and answer for the Predators.
That answer would come just 1:37 later, and it would come from an unlikely but welcome source. Craig Smith notched his first NHL goal at 15:56 as Mason could not handle a shot from Shea Weber. Mason was sprawled in a snow angel thinking the puck was under him. The puck, however, was lying to the side of Mason, and Smith was flying around the net and able to knock in a backhand to give the Predators a 2-1 lead. That would be all the scoring for the remainder of the period.
A 2-1 lead is tenuous, and it was going to be important for the Predators to continue to apply pressure and attempt to extend the lead. The Predators would do just that as Matt Halischuk would for a Columbus turnover in their own zone. Cal O'Reilly flipped the puck to Halischuk who was driving the net. Halischuk lifted a backhand past Mason to make it 3-1 Predators just 39 seconds into the third period.
The Jackets made it a 1 goal game again at 10:19 of the third period as the Predators failed to get the puck through the neutral zone and the Jackets made them pay as Rick Nash scored on a wrap around against Rinne. Throughout this contest, the Predators looked spotty with their neutral zone play, which has normally been a strength of this team.
The Predators killed off a Craig Smith penalty when the BJ's had momentum. Rinne made a huge save on Rick Nash. Craig Smith rang one off the pipe. The action in the late stages of the third period was going end to end.
The Predators stepped up the pressure and peppered Mason with shots. The Jackets did the same to Rinne, and both goalies were up to the task.
With the Predators nursing the one goal lead, the Jackets pulled Mason in the final minute. It was a wild scramble in the Predators goal crease in the final 10 seconds, but the Predators were able to hold off the BJ's offensive push and escape with a 3-2 win.
This was an important win for this team. It introduced a lot of young guys to the pace and the venom that comes in a regular season game against a division rival. Tonight, the young guys, and a few of the older ones, saw that it is the little things like winning face offs and puck battles that can turn the tide of a contest.
I was thoroughly impressed with the play of Craig Smith. The kid is fearless, not afraid to shoot the puck, and has a nose for the net.
In my mind, the jury is still out on the defensive pairing of Jack Hillen and Teemu Laakso. At times, they looked tentative and lacking confidence.
The Predators are the youngest team in the NHL. With youth, there is excitement but there is also mistakes. As Predator fans, we are going to have to live with these facts for a while this season.
We as fans will not lack for edge of our seat excitement.
My three stars:
1. Matt Halischuk
2. Craig Smith
3. Pekka Rinne
So many questions.
The Nashville Predators faced the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena to try to answer some of those questions.
Pekka Rinne, bouncing back from a touch of the flu, got the start for the Predators, while Steve Mason was in net for the BJ's. Both Rinne and Mason were looking at a lot of new faces in front of them,and for the Predators, a lot of those faces were awfully young. This was going to a baptism of fire for the new Predators.
After a scoreless first period that saw both teams generate some scoring chances, the Predators finally tallied on a power play opportunity (yes, you read that correctly!) as David Legwand fed the puck to Sergei Kostitsyn who walked in alone on Steve Mason. Mason was forced to focus solely on SK74, who at the last moment slipped a nice backhand pass to a pinching Ryan Suter, who buried the puck into the open net at 5:10 of the second period..
The BJ's would answer at 14:19 of the period as a Shot by Jeff Carter was not handled cleanly by Rinne and Vinny Prospal cleaned up the loose puck as he was crashing the net. As you can imagine, the tally set the Columbus crowd off into a frenzy.
It was going to be important for the Predators to turn the momentum back in their favor and take the crowd out of it. Someone would need to step up and answer for the Predators.
That answer would come just 1:37 later, and it would come from an unlikely but welcome source. Craig Smith notched his first NHL goal at 15:56 as Mason could not handle a shot from Shea Weber. Mason was sprawled in a snow angel thinking the puck was under him. The puck, however, was lying to the side of Mason, and Smith was flying around the net and able to knock in a backhand to give the Predators a 2-1 lead. That would be all the scoring for the remainder of the period.
A 2-1 lead is tenuous, and it was going to be important for the Predators to continue to apply pressure and attempt to extend the lead. The Predators would do just that as Matt Halischuk would for a Columbus turnover in their own zone. Cal O'Reilly flipped the puck to Halischuk who was driving the net. Halischuk lifted a backhand past Mason to make it 3-1 Predators just 39 seconds into the third period.
The Jackets made it a 1 goal game again at 10:19 of the third period as the Predators failed to get the puck through the neutral zone and the Jackets made them pay as Rick Nash scored on a wrap around against Rinne. Throughout this contest, the Predators looked spotty with their neutral zone play, which has normally been a strength of this team.
The Predators killed off a Craig Smith penalty when the BJ's had momentum. Rinne made a huge save on Rick Nash. Craig Smith rang one off the pipe. The action in the late stages of the third period was going end to end.
The Predators stepped up the pressure and peppered Mason with shots. The Jackets did the same to Rinne, and both goalies were up to the task.
With the Predators nursing the one goal lead, the Jackets pulled Mason in the final minute. It was a wild scramble in the Predators goal crease in the final 10 seconds, but the Predators were able to hold off the BJ's offensive push and escape with a 3-2 win.
This was an important win for this team. It introduced a lot of young guys to the pace and the venom that comes in a regular season game against a division rival. Tonight, the young guys, and a few of the older ones, saw that it is the little things like winning face offs and puck battles that can turn the tide of a contest.
I was thoroughly impressed with the play of Craig Smith. The kid is fearless, not afraid to shoot the puck, and has a nose for the net.
In my mind, the jury is still out on the defensive pairing of Jack Hillen and Teemu Laakso. At times, they looked tentative and lacking confidence.
The Predators are the youngest team in the NHL. With youth, there is excitement but there is also mistakes. As Predator fans, we are going to have to live with these facts for a while this season.
We as fans will not lack for edge of our seat excitement.
My three stars:
1. Matt Halischuk
2. Craig Smith
3. Pekka Rinne
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)