The game was at one point rumored to not even be played, but despite the massive amount of snow that has fallen on the Big Apple, the show did go on. Without Marian Gaborik, the Rangers struggled to beat Dan Ellis and New York ended up on the short side of a 2-1 decision.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. Depth Scoring Wins the Game - Twas a quiet night for the Preds top liners, but the depth guys came through for the Preds in this one. Jordin Tootoo and Colin Wilson were the goal scorers. Nice to see both guys get back on the board. That was Toots 3rd goal of the season while it was Colin's 2nd career goal. It was a good thing the depth guys showed up since the top two line were somewhat invisible. Erat 1 shot on goal, Legwand with none, Arnott with 2, Sullivan with 3, Dumont with 1, and then Hornqvist with just 2.
2. Dan Ellis Provides Relief In More Than One Way - A solid start for Dan Ellis. It was his first start since Jan 29th at Detroit. He was brilliant in the 3rd period and kept the Preds on top. Go to the Three Stars and Goalie Grade section for more on Danny.
3. Keeping the Trend Going - Rangers have still not won a game when trailing heading into the 3rd period. Considering their 3rd period play of late, I'm sure there was concern from Pred fans that that particular trend would be broken up. Alas, without superstar Gaborik, the Rangers didn't have any answer to Ellis in the 3rd period.
4. Crease Presence - This was the key to the game for me. The Preds had net presence and traffic in front on King Henrik. There are plenty of games where the Preds are guilty of not having much crease presence, but that can't be said tonight. Guys were creating screens and looking for rebounds. It paid off resulting in both Predator goals.
5. Keeping Shots On Net - Only 10 missed shots for the Preds tonight. That's a pretty low number for this team. 36 shots on goal, led by Jordin Tootoo with 6, Cal O'Reilly and Francis Bouillon with 5 each, and the aforementioned Colin Wilson with 4 shots on goal. Just a solid night of SOG from those depth guys as mentioned above.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches for Nashville were Marcel Goc, Ryan Jones, and Nolan Yonkman. Cody Franson remains on IR. For New York, superstar Marian Gaborik was scratched with a "deep" laceration, Aaron Voros, and Donald Brashear.
* I hadn't heard of an injury to Ryan Jones so I don't quite understand why he was scratched in favor of Belak. With Brashear out it makes the move even more odd. Hopefully someone will ask Trotzy why he made that decision and post it in their post-game writings.
* 1ST PERIOD
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 2:15 to go. Jordin Tootoo backhands a pass up the boards to the point for Kevin Klein. Kleiner lets a slap shot go from the right point and puts into the traffic that Tootoo, Joel Ward, and David Legwand were creating in front of Henrik Lundqvist. A deflection by Totts gets past the Rangers goaltender. Tootoo (3) from Klein (9) and Legwand (21). Preds take a 1-0 lead late in the opening frame.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 1 NYR: 0.Positives - Nice traffic in front produces the opening goal for Nashville. Outshot the Rangers 11-9. Won 58% of the penalties so far. Negatives - Couldn't capitalize on three powerplays in that period. Only 4 SOG within those "power plays".
* 2ND PERIOD
* 5 on 3 POWER PLAY GOAL for NEW YORK - 10:12 to go. Just two seconds remained on the Ranger 5 on 3 advantage with Erat and Sullivan in the box. A shot from the point by Olli Jokinen misses the net but take a bounce off the end boards down and along the ice. Ellis found the puck after Vinny Prospal deflected it towards the crease, but the puck was pushed out of his glove covering the puck by Prospal and into the goal. Prospal didn't quit on the play and that paid off. It's unfortunate Ellis gave up a goal there because his early efforts in the 5 on 3 were brilliant. Prospal (12) from Jokinen (26). We are tied at 1 apiece.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for NASHVILLE - 3:50 to go. The rookie Colin Wilson deposits a rebound in his second game back up with the big club. A nice high glove shot after a failed clearing attempt from the slot bounced to his stick. Just going to the dirty areas pays off for Colin. Wilson (2) unassisted. Preds take a 2-1 lead.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 2 NYR: 1.Positives - Preds finally cash in on a man advantage goal thanks to the rookie. Still leading SOG 24-18. Negatives - 3 missed breakaway attempts and an extended power play. The Preds should have a larger lead than just one goal at the moment.
* 3RD PERIOD
* Some brilliant goaltending in that period. Other than that, no score change.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 2 NYR - 1.
My Three Stars:
1. Wilson - 1 game winning goal, 4 shots on goal, 14:17 TOI, 1 hit, and won 2 of 5 faceoffs taken.
2. Ellis - 37 saves on 38 shots against. Solid throughout the contest.
3. Lundqvist - 34 saves on 36 shots against. Really kept the Rangers in it the whole way thanks to his incredible breakaway saves.
Goalie Grade:A – The starting goaltender tonight was Dan Ellis. Elly came up big for his club, especially in the 3rd period where he faced 18 shots against. Just a really solid night for him that helps gives the coaches confidence to put him in net again when needed.
Final Thoughts:
If you joined in on the pre-game stuff I had for the live blog then you knew I felt a low scoring game coming. For once, the Preds were able to come away with a low scoring affair. They appeared to take advantage of Gaborik missing from the lineup and played a solid, simple, and effective game all night long. Not many solid scoring chances for the Rangers in this one so credit to the Preds for a full defensive effort. The 3rd period was a bit sloppy for Nashville, but Ellis certainly held his own then and preserved the Preds 2 points.
The Predators next game is Friday night in New Jersey. Another 6 pm CST faceoff. The Devils will be quite the test for this Nashville team. If Parise plays (he didn't tonight) then you could conceivably see a top line of Kovalchuk, Parise, and Zajac. That's a line with lethal potential. I have to work Friday night so no post-game from me but enjoy the telecast on FS-TN.
Till the next time, take care.
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