Lindy Ruff called last years version of this game the most boring he'd been apart of. Well, this contest was certainly not boring…. if you're a Buffalo Sabres fan. The Sabres dominated the play throughout the night, but Pekka Rinne stymied them multiple times on all but one shot. That was enough in this one where 14,209 saw the Preds handed their first loss of the season in the Sommet Center.
Felder’s FRUSTRATED Five:
1. Shots On Goal - There were not nearly enough shots thrown at Ryan Miller. The Preds played in their own zone for so much of the night that by the 3rd period you could see energy was gone. Although tied at 0 until 3:25 was left in the game, the Preds managed a mere 6 shots in the 3rd period. That my friends looks like you are playing for the OT point.
2. MIA - 2nd line offense - Although Barry Trotz stated the 2nd line was being used in a more defensive role after the last game, I for one have to believe he can't be pleased with the lack of production from this line. Mike Santorelli appears to be the only player on the line with an offensive pulse at the moment. Legwand does tend to have more defensive responsibilities, but can you name the player that has no excuse? Yep, you know #10. He's actually the highest paid player on the team these next 4 seasons. Tonight, he put up a total of 0, that's right 0, shots on goal. In fact, the only stats he amassed were 18:15 TOI, a -1 rating, 1 giveaway, and 1 takeaway. If you are supposed to be THE reason the 2nd line can put up points, and you aren't even getting ONE puck on goal, that's unacceptable. Right now, if Dumont comes back on Monday, I put Hornqvist on the 2nd line with Santorelli and Legwand. Marty has been invisible this season. Normally I don't call out individual players, but his salary and the expectations this franchise has for him this season merits it.
3. The "Neutral" Zone - This is one area in which the Preds were floored tonight. Buffalo did a really solid job of locking things in and getting their own guys thru this zone with speed. Nashville struggled to make solid passes, and thus had a hard time gaining the offensive zone without dumping the puck. Tonight, you could have called it the Sabres zone and never known the difference because it rarely felt like neutral territory.
4. Clearing the Puck - The outlet passing tonight was a concern for me. In fact, most of the passing was a concern, but getting the puck out of your defensive zone is one of the most important things you can do. 10 total giveaways on the night and I think the off ice officials were being a bit kind there.
5. Energy, or Lack Thereof - This games was missing energy in most areas. The best energy in the entire building came from Rinne's saves, a big time Bouillon hit, and Marcel Goc's breakaway. Those 3 players stood out to me tonight beyond those highlight moments though. Overall, after the 1st period, it seemed the Preds were running on fumes and I can't help but think that's why their 3rd period effort was so invisible.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Wade Belak and J.P. Dumont. Colin Wilson remains on IR but could return next week. Jordin Tootoo is on IR as well and there has not been a timetable for his return announced yet. For Buffalo, Daniel Paille and Nathan Paetsch were the scratches. Toni Lydman is on IR.
* 1ST PERIOD
* 10:05 to go. We had quite a few minutes without a stoppage. Some highlights within those minutes would be Rinne surviving two scrambles around the crease and making a few big stops within them. Also, Patric Hornqvist fed Steve Sullivan right in front for a point blank shot, but Ryan Miller made the save, thus the stoppage. Also, it's hard to miss Tyler Myers 6' 8", 222 lbs frame on the ice, but I noticed him for some real nice defensive stick work in his own end. That 19 year old is really good.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 0 BUF: 0Positives - Pekka doesn't look like the pre-season version of Peks thus far. Winning the faceoffs with a 67%. A much better PK effort than the last game. Negatives - Only 8 shots on goal. The defense is having a bit of a hard time keeping up with the Sabres speedy forwards.
* 2ND PERIOD
* 16:32 to go and Francis Bouillon rocks Patrick Kaleta's world along the boards. Bouillon finished his check with authority after Kaleta pushed the puck ahead thru the neutral zone. This is a hit that deserves to be seen so try and find it on the game highlights at some point.
* 3:23 to go. I have to say, I've yet to see something from Bouillon that I haven't liked. He's got a lot of heart, makes some smart decisions, and is willing to battle anyone no matter their size. Tim Kennedy made the mistake of taking just one extra tap at Rinne's glove when he had the puck covered, and the Cube got shoved the 23 year old off the puck and then some.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 0 BUF: 0Positives - Got to double digits in shots on goal that period with 11. So far I've enjoyed watching the Jones, Goc, Ward line. Still winning the faceoffs 70% of the time. Goc is 7-0 on faceoffs thus far. Negatives - Gave up 17 shots on goal that frame. Not many quality scoring chances to speak of.
* 3RD PERIOD
* 7:47 to go and Rinne makes a stellar glove save on Kaleta. Perfect timing too because this gave the fans something to cheer about thru the TV timeout. The tradition lives on this season. Rinne has been THE reason the Preds are still tied. On top of his excellent play in net, whenever he was caught seemingly out of position, somehow the puck would not go in. I've honestly never seen a team be gifted so many luck bounces of the puck in one game.
* 5:12 to go and the Preds are on the PK. Marcel Goc gets a breakaway, places it high stick side, but Miller is up to the task and makes the big save of the period.
* GOAL for BUFFALO - 3:25 to go. On shot number 40 against Rinne, the Sabres finally break through the Rinne Wall. Mike Grier let go of a one time on the inner half of the faceoff circle to Rinne's glove side. Peks makes the initial stop but can't find the rebound in traffic. Grier finds his own rebound and backhands it in on the low stick side. It took the Sabres quite some time to get one past Rinne, but they've earned it with all the different places they've shot the puck from. Grier from Kennedy and Chris Butler. Buffalo breaks the scoreless tie and goes up 1-0.
* 1:00 to go and Rinne reaches the bench for the extra attacker.
* 20.8 to go and Barry Trotz calls his timeout of the game. The Preds will have a faceoff in the Sabres zone.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 0 BUF - 1.
My Three Stars:
1. Rinne - 41 saves on 42 shots against. THE reason the Preds were even close to pulling a point out of this game.
2. Grier - 1 game winning goal, +1 rating, 6 shots on goal, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot.
3. Miller - 25 saves in a shutout effort.
Goalie Grade:A+ – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. This was Rinne's first start of the regular season. Pekka looked nothing like he did in pre-season. This was the return of the Remarkable Rinne we all know. It's too bad his teammates couldn't get him a point out of this stellar 41 save effort.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "What is it about Buffalo that makes it so difficult to get shots on goal?"
Steve Sullivan - "It's not what their doing in their own end, it's what they are doing up ice. They were just coming at us so hard with sending the forecheck and they had one defenseman constantly up the ice. It just made it a very physically demanding game for us to go up and down the ice. I don't think we had as much energy getting into the offensive zone as we probably would've liked. They put a lot of pressure on us and it's a different team then we are used to seeing."
Felder - "Before the game there were a lot of comparisons to both teams having similar styles. Would you agree with that after tonight?"
Sullivan - "No. I think in the neutral zone they are more of a turn and go (team). They attack the puck a lot more than we do. We try to be a little more patient, create some holes, and jump through there. So looking at the game now I think there are a lot of differences in our games."
Felder - "Talk about the fact that with a performance like that you now have two goaltenders you can have the ultimate confidence in."
Sullivan - "Yeah, absolutely. Pekka played tremendous and he gave us a chance to win and we let him down with three and a half minutes to go. Even to salvage one point… We have to be better at managing the clock and knowing that every point is so important. You can't allow goals like that. You feel bad for Pekka because he faced some adversity coming out of training camp and he definitely answered the bell tonight so we are really proud of him."
*
Felder - "In a game like this when Buffalo is so quick defensively, is it hard to pick and choose your spots to go on offense?"
Joel Ward - "Yeah. They are a quick skating team, they work hard all over the ice and back check well. They've got a pretty solid all around team and good goaltending as well. It was a tough defensive battle but they just happened to chip in a goal there at the end."
*
Felder - "Before the game both you and Lindy said your teams had a similar style. After tonight do you think their game has changed a little bit?"
Barry Trotz - "Yeah. I think they're a little more active with their D. We don't full pinch with our D the way they do. There is a lot of risk to their game and there is a lot of reward to their game, and tonight they got a lot of reward for the way they played. Full credit to them. They were on the puck. They were on the puck all night, they were winning races, they were getting up ice, and we were having a hard time doing anything."
Felder - "What were your thoughts on Joel Ward and his return?"
Trotz - "I thought he was really good. Penalty killing obviously he was really good and 5 on 5 his strength is on the wall, he's got great patience, and I thought he did really well. I didn't over extend him a lot. It was a hard game to play. It was a difficult game to play because we spend way too much time in our end."
Final Thoughts:
There seemed to be only a handful of guys that were willing to keep battling after that 1st period. I truly believe that the Sabres caught the Preds off guard with their speed, tenacity, and work ethic over the entire sheet of ice. To me, the Predators looked tired from the 1st intermission on. This was definitely not the effort you want to show the home town fans. Hand it to Buffalo because they certainly came to play and to win.
The Predators next game is Monday night in the Sommet Center versus the Edmonton Oilers. Game time is the normal 7 pm CST faceoff. The Oilers have speed to burn in their forward group as well so the Predators need to be ready to skate come Monday night.
Till next time, take care.
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