Predators Cap An Incredible Comeback Win With Weber's Goal

Shea Weber was a game time decision for the Predators game against the New Jersey Devils at the Bridgestone Arena.

The Predators are glad he played.

Weber scored the first goal of the game and the overtime winner as the Predators defeated the Devils 3-2.

And it was an improbable win.

Weber opened the scoring for the Predators as he blasted a slap shot past Cory Schneider that beat the scrambling Devils netminder through the five hole at 6:45 of the first period.

The Devils came back with two goals in the second period, both of which were goals Carter Hutton would like to have back.

Patrick Elias fired a shot that appeared to be going wide of the net. Hutton tried to snare it with his glove, but it popped out and dribbled over the goal line to tie the game at 13:00 of the second.

The Devils took a  2-1 lead when Jaromir Jagr tallied his 17th goal of the season. Jagr beat Hutton with a wrist shot that got between Hutton and the post at 18:59 of the second period.

The Devils spent the third period aggressively forechecking the Predators and disrupting any offensive flow that the Predators tried to establish.

With the clock ticking down and Hutton pulled for an extra attacker, the Predators got the puck into the zone and Roman Josi fired a shot that Schneider kicked out to the stick of David Legwand. With Schneider out of position, David Legwand buried the puck into the open net with just 10.8 seconds remaining to tie the game.

In the overtime period, Michael Ryder had a breakaway just 80 seconds in, and Hutton came up big, stopping Ryder's backhand attempt.

The Predators rushed the puck into the offensive zone, and Colin Wilson made a drop pass to Weber. Weber launched a rocket over the glove of Schneider to give the Predators a come from behind win.

Some observations:

• Weber's 15 goals leads all NHL defensemen. His ability to work to the open ice and bury shots is critical for the Predators success. Nashville is 11-1-2 when Weber scores.

• Hutton allowed two brutal goals, but rather than hang his head, he continued to battle, His save on Ryder's breakaway was a thing of beauty. Hutton was generally solid, but he is prone to the soft goal, and tonight, it almost cost the team. I appreciate the fact that while he is not the most talented netminder in the NHL, he competes every night. Hutton is 6-1 in his last seven starts at home.

• Nashville is 19-2-5 when they score the first goal of the season.

• Nashville won for just the2nd time this season when trailing after two periods. This game tonight should help build the confidence of this young team, letting them believe that they are not out of a game when trailing going into the final frame.

• I like the pairing of Seth Jones and Michael Del Zotto. This is a mobile pair that can move the puck and Del Zotto has shown that he is not afraid to deliver a big hit, as he did tonight. If this pair can continue to gel, the Predators will have a solid second pairing.

• Despite the aggressive forecheck of the Devils, the Predators out shot them 33-26. This effort in the face of pressure from a talented team is a good sign of the effort of this team.

• The Predators are 3-1-1 in their last five games.

• Roman Josi has 10 points (3G-7A) in his last nine games.

The Predators need to continue with this kind of effort and pile up points before the Olympic break. The Predators currently sit 5th in the Central Division and are 5 points out of the last wild card slot.

The challenge is there.

Now we will see if the team can meet it.

My three stars:

1. Shea Weber

2. David Legwand

3. Patrick Elias

My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...


To say the federal government is too big, too unwieldy, and too intrusive is a blinding flash of the obvious to most people. The American people are burdened with a myriad of new laws that Congress enacts every year. It is not only the laws that are put into place by the legislative branch that are burdensome. No, it is the mountainous number of regulations that are passed by the bureaucracy in Washington that intrude on our everyday lives and limit our freedoms.

Take a look at this picture from Senator Mike Lee:

What you are looking at in these stacks of paper is the over 80,000 regulations enacted by the bureaucracy in Washington LAST YEAR.

And notice the small stack of papers on the top right of the cabinet? That is the number of new laws and regulations passed by Congress last year.

Looking at this, I am stunned. While Congress often draws the ire of voters for its position on various issues, you get a visual representation of what the bloated bureaucracy in Washington is doing to our country, to you and me.

This endless regulation of our activities by bureaucrats in Washington is onerous and costly. Even more fundamental is the fact that this great country was founded on the principal that most of what we as free citizens did was none of the government's business to begin with.

The intrusive nature of the massive bureaucracy in Washington has found its way into every nook and cranny of our daily activities. There is virtually no aspect of our personal life that cannot or is not controlled by the federal government.

This shift of power to Washington and to unelected bureaucrats has not happened overnight. It has occurred incrementally over time, changing sometimes so subtly that the change has almost passed unnoticed.

Until free citizens look up one day and realize that they are not as free as they thought.

Having this enormous power centralized in Washington and into an unelected group of bureaucrats does several things, all negative.

It disenfranchises the citizens of this country, taking away their freedom in a process that gives them no voice over the control of many important aspects of their life. Do you think people in Tennessee, South Carolina, Montana, or any of the other states have very different ideas of about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness than does someone in Washington? The "I know what's best" attitude by those in Washington is most often out of touch and unrealistic with the realities of life that most of us encounter.

The centralization of power in Washington and in unelected bureaucrats also means that any lobby (read: deepest pockets) can buy influence in a city whose culture is predisposed to venality. All of us have seen the flawed legislation that has come out of Congress, and the accompanying regulations from the bureaucracy, that wind up costing us money and limiting our freedom.  Yet if you follow the money, one often finds that those deep pocketed lobbyists have prevailed to have Congress and its minions in the bureaucracy enact that legislation for their pecuniary benefit.

And all the while our freedoms are eroded and our wallets lighter.

Do you like being groped by a rent a cop at a TSA checkpoint? Like it or not, you will be if you have to fly.

Did you and I vote for this? Do we have a voice in this process?

Contact your Congressman and see what kind of response you get. Better yet, try talking to the TSA bureaucracy. The experience of having a tooth pulled with no anesthetic would be more pleasant.

Here is the point that we should all keep in mind:

We as citizens have lost control of our federal government.

Washington has become elitist and drunk on the power that it has amassed over the years. While we rail at our elected officials, the real power and the negative economic impact that we feel comes from the unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

Their regulations are strangling our economy, taking money out of our wallets, and radically curtailing our freedoms.

Yes, the laws that Congress passes are a problem. Obamacare is a poster child for this. Under girding bad legislation from Congress is a host of bureaucracies that will take those bad laws and regulate us to oblivion.

So what are we to do?

The first step is to understand the impact of the endless amount of regulation that is coming from Washington bureaucracies. And that regulation is not designed to make our life better. It is designed to amass power, control, and money in the hands of a few.

Recognizing that fact, we must engage our elected representatives and demand that that they begin to push back against the monstrosity that is our federal government. And if our elected representatives will not, then it is time to put into office those who will.

The November elections are a good place to start.

We can continue to let unelected bureaucrats and elected representatives run roughshod over our freedoms.

Or we can begin to take back our government.

It's our choice.

And that, my friends, is my view.

Predators Outlast the Jets 4-3

The Nashville Predators wrapped up a 4 game road trip with a stop in Winnipeg to face the suddenly resurgent Jets, who have gone 6-1 since Paul Maurice stepped in behind the bench. The Predators had gone 1-1-1 on the trip, and needed the two points in this game to try to stay remotely close to the last wild card position in the Western Conference.

Nashville opened the scoring on a wrap around goal by Seth Jones. Jones carried the puck in deep and showed great speed and puck control as he sped behind the net and banged the puck off the skate of Ondrej Pavelec and inside the post.

The Predators have shown a troubling tendency to give up a goal shortly after scoring, and this game was no different. Just 22 seconds after the Predators score, the Jets got on the board as Chris Thorburn deflected a point shot past Nashville netminder Carter Hutton to tie the game at 1.

The Predators got the lead back just 42 seconds into the second period as Roman Josi notched his 7th goal of the season.

The Predators made it 3-1 off a nice give and go between Colton Sissons, Paul Gaustad, and ultimately Nick Spaling, who deposited the puck past an out of position Pavelec.

3-1 and late in the second period and the Predators looked to have control of the game. But this is the Predators and they gave up two goals in 27 seconds to let the Jets tie the game. Mark Scheifele and Balke Wheeler tallied to knot the game at 3 going into the third period.

The Predators looked to take the lead early in the third period, but the goal was disallowed as David Legwand was deemed to make incidental contact with Pavelec.

With the Predators on the power play to open the third period, they scored but the goal was disallowed due to what the officials deemed was incidental contact with Pavelec by David Legwand. Undeterred, they did score 42 seconds into the period as Mike Fisher banged home a shot for his 14th goal of the season.

That goal would be the game winner as the Predators were able to hold the Jets off the board for the remainder of the period.

The 4-3 win gave the Predators a 2-1-1 record on this road trip and they captured 5 of a possible 8 points.

Some observations:

• This was a nice bounce back effort by the Predators after the debacle in Edmonton in their last game. They were aggressive and got the puck on net and had good traffic in front. Tonight, the Predators played their game and they got the win for their efforts. This is the way this team has to play consistently to have a chance to win games.

• That said, this team has got to do a better job of locking down a lead. Letting the Jets tie the game just 22 seconds after taking the lead in the first period and giving up 2 goals in 27 seconds in the second period are exasperating. This team has shown an inability to step up intensity and hold a lead, and this has to change if this team is going to have success. 

• Shea Weber left the game midway of the third period with an upper body injury. Weber appeared to injure himself after taking a slap shot. The Predators played the rest of the game with five defensemen.

• Colton Sissons was called up from Milwaukee due to the injuries to Viktor Stalberg and Matt Cullen. Sissons picked up his first NHL point with an assist on Nick Spaling's goal.

• Paging Colin Wilson. Another game with no shots on goal. Tonight Wilson had 13:41 of ice time and was once again invisible.

• Craig Smith continues his strong play. He had two assists tonight and delivered several hits and used his speed to create space and opportunities.

The Predators have a few days off before playing at home on Friday night. Hopefully they can continue to bring this level of play and intensity and continue to get some wins.

My three stars:

1. Mike Fisher

2. Craig Smith

3. Mark Scheifele

Predators Embarrassed By the Oilers 5-1

The Nashville Predators traveled to Edmonton to take on an Oilers team that has bedeviled them recently. The Predators have struggled to score and contain the explosive offense of the Oilers in recent contests.

That did not change in this game.

The Predators were going to be challenged due to some injuries. Viktor Stalberg and Matt Cullen were both out of the lineup. This meant that lines were going to be juggled and chemistry would be affected.

It was in a big way.

After Edmonton opened the scoring just two minutes into the game off a goal by Justin Schultz, the Predators would answer with a goal of their own off a 2 on 1 rush. David Legwand fired a shot past Oilers netminder Ben Scrivens to tie the game at 1 at 15:29.

It went downhill for the Predators from there.

The Oilers scored with just 12 seconds remaining in the first period as Jordan Eberle scored his 18th goal of the year past Carter Hutton.

The second period saw Taylor Beck drive to the net and score, but the goal was waved off as the officials said that Beck had interfered with Scrivens.

Ryan Smyth tallied on the power play and Mail Yakupov scored at 16:46 to make it 4-1.

The Predators had not done much offensively after their first tally. Now it remained to be seen if they would have any fight in them in the third period.

Taylor Beck scored again, but again the goal was disallowed as the officials said there was incidental contact with Scrivens.

The Oilers, who owned the 21st ranked power play, scored again with Rich Clune in the box to make it 5-1 as Ryan Nugent Hopkins found the net.

And that was the final margin of this game.

Some observations:

• Not taking away from the Oilers, who played a solid game, but they are the 29th ranked team in the NHL. Going back to last season, the Predators have been dominated by the Oilers. They are currently 0-2 this season against the Oil, and frankly this is unacceptable and inexcusable. The Predators came out flat and were run out of the building. Even with the disallowed goals, the Predators were not in this contest. This team is not good enough to play this way against any team, and these are games that this team has to win.

• Carter Hutton didn't look sharp, but he didn't have a lot of help in front of him. Hopefully he can bounce back and get back to his game.

• Taylor Beck had a strong game, and was one of the few Predators that had any jump on the ice. He went hard to the net and should have had a goal on the second that was disallowed. Beck needs to make a strong case to stay in the line up, and with a couple of players dinged up, he will have that opportunity.

• Goodness gracious- Colin Wilson has turned invisible. For a player that has as much talent as he does, the production is woefully lacking.

Not much you can say about this game. This was an absolute stinker.

Hopefully this team can regroup.

My three stars:

1. Jordan Eberle

2. Ryan Nugent Hopkins

3. Ryan Smyth

Predators Waste Nystrom's 4 Goal Night, Fall to the Flames In a Shoot Out

The Nashville Predators have won of their last five games. Tonight, they were in Calgary taking on a team that has struggled with injuries and trying to find their identity.

This was a game the Predators needed to win, for the points of course, but also to build on the momentum that the team has had recently. coming into this game , the Predators have been playing more consistently and have started to mesh.

They needed a fast start to take the home crowd out of the game, and they got that start courtesy of Eric Nystrom.

Nystrom tallied the first two Predators goals, the first just 1:51 into the game. Gabriel Bourque battled for the puck and got it to Nystrom, who made a sweet move on Flames netminder Kari Ramo. Nystrom faked Ramo down to the ice and tucked the puck into the net for a 1-0.

The Flames tied the game on the power play. Predators goaltender Devan Dubnyk was screened and never appeared to see the Mark Giordano shot, which was the Flames first one of the man advantage.

Tied at 1 going into the second intermission, Nystrom asserted himself again. he went to the front of the net and gathered in a bouncing puck off a flip in by Roman Josi that Ramo could not control. Nystrom was able to slide the puck through the five hole of Ramo at 1:50 of the first period.

Paul Gaustad took a sharp angle shot with Nystrom in front screening, and the puck deflected in off Nystrom for the goal. at 6:00 of the second. For Nystrom, this was his first career hat trick.

That was it for Ramo, as he had given up 3 goals on 13 shots, and Reto Berra entered the game in net for the Flames.

The Predators opened the third period on the penalty kill, and brutal turnover by Seth Jones led to a David Jones goal at 1:24 to cut the lead to 3-2 for the Predators.

Eric Nystrom scored his 4th goal of the night as Matt Cullen threw the puck into the slot and Nystrom re-directed the pass through the pads of Berra to give the Predators a 4-2 lead and some breathing room. His goal came at 10:47 of the third period.

The Predators did not make it easy on themselves as they wound up with 2 men in the box, giving the Flames 1:27 of 5 on 3 advantage.

The Flames took advantage of the Predators miscues to score a 5 on 3 goal as Mikael Backlund scored at 12:27.

The Flames tied the game just after the power play ended as T.J. Brodie blasted a shot from the blue line that beat Dubnyk over the shoulder at 13:36.

The Predators had complete control of this game and managed to give away a 2 goal lead and momentum.

Unbelievable.

The overtime period saw both team have some good scoring chances. Matt Cullen rang a shot off the pipe, but neither team could score.

So, in a game that the Predators should have won handily, the shoot out would decide the winner.

Shootouts are kind to the Predators, as they have only won one this season.

They still have only one win, as the Flames won the skills competition 2-1.

Some observations:

• Eric Nystrom was in full on beast mode. He is the first player in franchise history to score 4 goals in a game, and he played with jump and speed tonight. Good to see this hard working forward get rewarded.

• The Predators gave this game away with some stupid third period penalties and an awful turnover. This team is not good enough to overcome those kind of mistakes.

• Cullen, Colin Wilson, and Mike Fisher finished with zero shot on goal. Three top line forwards... and you wonder why the offense struggles.

• Dubnyk is not the long term solution at back up.

• Seth Jones shows flashes of brilliance, and he is going to be an elite player in the NHL. There are times when he shows that he is a rookie, as he did when he failed to clear the puck and turned it over in the defensive zone on the penalty kill. It was a terrible giveaway that led to the Flames third goal.

Well, boys, you threw this one away. Not much more you can say.

Hopefully the team can re-group and play a solid game in Edmonton.

My three stars:

1. Eric Nystrom

2. Mikael Backlund

3. Matt Cullen

My View

Random ruminations from your resident curmudgeon...

Remember former Environmental Protection Agency senior official John Beale? He was recently convicted of defrauding the federal government of $900,000 for work he did not do and for posing as a CIA agent while at the EPA. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee recently released a transcript of his testimony. Beale relates some interesting details of the Obama Administration's strategy for using the EPA, and it goes far beyond protecting the environment.

According to Beale,

"There were several phases of the project as we had outlined it. There's an enormous body of literature on the subject. Sometimes its referred to as sustainability, sometimes as green economics. And so phase 1 of the project was for me to become very familiar with the literature. Phase 2 would have been out interviewing academic and business experts.

And then phase 3 would have been coming up with specific proposals that could be or could have been proposed either legislatively or things which could have been done administratively to kind of modify the DNA of the capitalist system."

What?

Beale testified that current EPA head Gina McCarthy is aware of the anti-capitalist project and is extremely interested in it. The project stalled when Beale was arrested for his fraudulent activities.

Friends, this is amazing and unprecedented.

We are an economy that has been founded on capitalist principles. And yes, capitalism is not perfect. It is messy. It engages in what famed economist Joseph Schumpeter called "creative destruction". And capitalism requires risk and doles out rewards commensurate to that risk. It requires sweat and toil.

And capitalism, most of all, provides freedom.

Which makes it different than every economic system or model in history.

In this system, you and I can choose how hard we want to work and our standard of living. We can refuse jobs. We can move to locales that have an abundance of jobs. We all make numerous life choices because of the economic freedom that capitalism provides.

And there is no other economic system in the world that works as well or as objectively as capitalism.

And this administration and the bureaucrats in Washington want to change that system.

President Obama and those on the left want to use bureaucracies such as the EPA to fundamentally transform America. And it is not about coal, carbon, or green energy. The proposed regulations are about one thing, and one thing only.

Power.

The climate change (the newest euphemism for global warming) scam led by the charlatan Al Gore is designed to transfer wealth from you and me along with every business in this country to Washington. It is designed to centralize power to get approval for business expansion. It is designed to lord power over you and me by imposing onerous land use regulations. And those regulations and the bureaucracy that would support them would be paid for by higher taxation on those that produce, that engage in capitalism.

It is about control and a central planning philosophy that says those in Washington know best.

Let me ask you, friends, which economy has been more vibrant and has offered the greatest amount of upward mobility and the highest standard of living?

Is it the U.S. or Russia? The U.S. or China? India?

Here is the reality, capitalism gives you and I the freedom to succeed in the manner of our choosing, not in the way a central planner tells us. It lets us have control over our lives. It allows us to build wealth.

And liberal elites and entrenched bureaucrats hate us for that, and they want to take away your economic liberty and potential.

Watch closely what is happening in Washington, and dig beneath the surface. There is often, as it is with the global warming scam, much more going on.

And it is that ulterior motive that will have the most significant impact on you and me.

Beale said it- this administration wants to change the DNA of the greatest economic system in history.

Not for our benefit.

But for power.

And that, my friends, is my view.

Predators Rally Past Vancouver for 2-1 Win

The Nashville Predators began a western Canada road trip with a stop in Vancouver to take on the Canucks. The Predators came into the game having won three of their last four games and were looking to build on that momentum.

Michael Del Zotto, acquired the day before from the New York Rangers for Kevin Klein, made his debut with the Predators.

Carter Hutton was in net for the Predators, and he has been playing well of late. The Predators were going to need another strong outing from Hutton against the talented Canucks squad.

And Hutton came up big in a scoreless first period. He stopped all 13 shots he faced, making some solid saves. The Canucks were aided in that first period by 6 minutes of power play time. Hutton and the penalty killers did a good job of keeping the Canucks off the board.

Taking those penalties is not a formula for beating the Canucks, and the Predators were going to have to be more disciplined in the second period.

The only score in the second period came when Chris Higgins tipped a Dale Weiss shot that was going wide of the net over the shoulder of Hutton.

As for the Predators, they had not really challenged Roberto Luongo through the first two periods. The offensive urgency and effort were going to have to improve in the third period.

The Predators got that response at 3:28 of the third period as Craig Smith beat Luongo short side with a snap shot to tie the game at 1. This was Smith's 16th goal of the season.

The Predators took a 2-1 lead on the power play as Seth Jones fired a shot from the blue line that was re-directed by Nick Spaling in front of Luongo Luongo. Spaling's goal came at 12:38 of the period.

The Predators defense was able to make that goal stand up, and they captured the 2-1 win.


Some observations:

• Scott Nichol, Predators Director of Player Development, was behind the bench replacing Coach Lane Lambert, who stayed in Nashville to be with his wife, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatment. All of the fans of the Predators certainly send our best to her.

• Del Zotto looked good for having made a cross country flight and joining the team today. he had good jump, a nice shot from the point, and showed that he can move the puck.

• Nice response by the Predators in the third period. After a rather lifeless first two periods, the Predators took over in the third period. They got their feet moving and created some quality scoring chances by shooting the puck and getting to the net.

• Hutton was very good again. He stopped 35 of 36 shots and did a good job of controlling rebounds and was tracking the puck well. Early in the year, it appeared that Hutton was scrambling a bit in net. Now, he looks to be more poised and fluid, and his game has benefitted.

• The Canucks were without Head Coach John Tortorella, who missed his second game behind the bench as he serves his 15 day suspension.

• The Predators won for only the 6th time this season when the opponent scores first.

The Predators continue tomorrow night in Calgary and are looking to keep the momentum going.

They will have to do so to get back into the playoff hunt.

My three stars:

1. Carter Hutton

2. Nick Spaling

3. Craig Smith