It was yet another game tied at 0 during the 2nd intermission at Bridgestone Arena. 14,433 settled back into their seats and saw the Kings finally take advantage of a few opportunities, and take the 2 points. L.A. wins this one 2-0 on a night in which the Preds had plenty of shots, but no scores to show for it.
Felder’s FED UP Five: Here are five things I've hammered on at some point or another all season long. Surprise! They showed up again.
1. Man Advantage - 0-2. 3 shots on goal in that four minute time frame. Both instances were key chances to take the lead and momentum.
2. Can't Bury Chances - It's a game of inches no doubt, but it seems these Preds come up on the short side of those all too often. Plenty of chances form the 2nd period on but nothing to show for it.
3. Scoreless Thru 2 - I wonder if the Preds lead the league in 0-0 ties after 2 periods. It sure seems they've had quite a few of those this season. Hopefully somebody can do me a favor and look that up somehow.
4. Great Goaltending Wasted - I feel bad for Pekka Rinne. He's had a handful of games at least where he has been absolutely fantastic, but he doesn't get the goal support needed to get the 2 points. Much like last season, I wonder if the lack of scoring will hurt these Preds down the road. At least this time it'll be playoffs as opposed to missing them barely.
5. Giveaways - Not to sound trite but I truly give up on this one. Again with 15+ giveaways on the night. In tight, checking, defensive games like this one (and like a playoff game will be) the possession of the puck is critical. Freely giving it away does you no good and against quality teams you'll find a goal against routinely.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Jason Arnott, Wade Belak, Denis Grebeshkov, and Cal O'Reilly. Scratched for the Kings were Rich Clune, David Drewiske, Erik Ersberg, Peter Harrold, and Raitis Ivanans.
* 1ST PERIOD
* There have been two highlight reel stops by Pekka Rinne this period. I can not do them justice so please seek out the highlights of said stonings.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 0 L.A. : 0Positives - Pekka has been a force this period. . Negatives - Heavily outshot that period for a total of 18-8. Kings winning 71% of faceoffs.
* 2ND PERIOD
* Another game in which we have no scoring through 2 periods. I believe I'm meant to suffer through this seeing as this is game 39 at home this year.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 0 L.A. : 0 Positives - Preds poured on the shots that period and surpassed the Kings with a game total of 23-22 as of now. Lots of scoring chances created. Negatives - No scoring chances converted. L.A. winning 58% of faceoffs taken.
* 3RD PERIOD
* GOAL for LOS ANGELES - 12:10 to go. The Kings capitalize after some good cycling behind the Predator net. A feed from Jeff Halpern goes from the side of Rinne's net stick side to Scott Parse crashing the slot. Parse lets off a one timer and finds the twine on Rinne's high stick side. No one was really home to prevent that shot and it was just solid contact with Parse's stick leaving Peks little time to react. Parse (11) from Halpern (9) and Randy Jones (13). The Kings now take a 1-0 lead and break the scoreless tie.
* GOAL for LOS ANGELES - 2:01 to go. The Kings put this away with a rebound goal. Sean O'Donnell goes top shelf high glove on Rinne who was unable to get over to the opposite post in time to square up to the shot. Very nice placement by O'Donnell who scores just his 3rd of the season. If he always placed the puck like that he'd have double digit goal totals. Frolov had the initial shot that Peks made a save on low glove side with the pad. O'Donnell (3) from Frolov (31) and Jarret Stoll (30). Kings now own a 2-0 lead and will get the much desired 2 points.
* FINAL SCORE – NSH - 0 L.A. - 2.
My Three Stars:
1. Bernier - In just his 6th NHL start he earns his 1st career NHL shutout. 34 saves on 34 shots against.
2. Parse - 1 game winning goal, +1, 1 SOG, and 1 hit.
3. Anze Kopitar - Game leading 8 SOG, 1 hit, and won 10 of 12 faceoffs taken.
Goalie Grade:A – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. I find no fault in the goals given up. Those were bang-bang plays in which Rinne had little time to react. Would you like to see him not give up a rebound on the Frolov shot? Sure, but I think that shot was perfectly placed and without a D-man to clear the crease of said rebound it becomes difficult to do anything. All in all I thought it was yet another solid outing for Peks who continues to consistently put his team in a position to win each night out over the last few weeks.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "Wardo how difficult was it to sit out and watch the guys during this stretch run?"
Joel Ward - "It was tough. It was tough to see your team go out there and battle every night. Guys were giving it their all. It's tough to be on the sidelines cheerleading for them. It's what I had to do at the time and I'm just happy to get back in and hopefully put a few more W's back on the board."
*
Felder - "Patric, another home game where you guys have had 2 goals or less. How concerned are you guys heading into the playoffs with the lack of scoring on home ice?"
Patric Hornqvist - "We don't think about it that way. I think we are a pretty good home team and we are just struggling a little bit here and there. If we can keep this group together and play on home ice we know we are good at home. There's no question about it. We had a little bit of bad luck. In the 1st period we just weren't very sharp. The 2nd and 3rd I think we played ok. We may not have played well enough to win but we always have a chance at home so we don't think about it that way."
*
Felder - "Jerred, here on home ice you guys have had some struggles offensively lately. Are you guys concerned heading into the playoffs about the lack of scoring?"
Jerred Smithson - "No I don't think so. We just gotta get back to doing it the hard way. Believe it or not it's actually a lot easier to do that than trying to make the perfect tic-tac-toe play. We just gotta pound pucks to the net and pay the price to score the goals. You are going to have to go to the hard areas, take cross-checks, and punches to the head. For example, look at Patric Hornqvist. He's been doing it all year and he's taking an absolute beating but he's got 30 goals this year. That's something we have to do more as a team. We'll go back to the drawing board here, regroup, get rested tomorrow, and come back Thursday raring to go. Every game now is so close and mean so much that you have to come out with an A effort."
*
Felder - "How concerned are you with the power play unit here at home?"
Barry Trotz - "We're going to have to get something going on with the power play. We've had a number of people out (injured) on it so it hasn't been very stabilized. We haven't had a chance to work on it a whole lot especially with the number of games we've been playing. Obviously we are going to have to get some production there. Am I concerned? Not yet, but we are going to have to get some production from our power play. Hopefully we'll get everybody healthy and we'll get a chance to work on it. I think it will snap back into place here."
Final Thoughts:
It always amuses me when the Preds make backups or rookie goaltenders look like they are future All-Stars. It happens a fair amount if you really go back and look at it. The shot selection is questionable a lot of nights. Maybe more impossible to solve though is the "pass first, pass second, and pass third" mentality that has seeped throughout this team. It baffles me because the players, coaches, media, and fans all talk about it. It's not a mystery to anyone yet the problem persists. The real question is, will it be fixed by playoffs?
The Predators next game is Thursday night right back here in the friendly confines of the Bridge. Another 7 pm faceoff start as the Preds are visited by the St. Louis Blues. In fact, all remaining home games are against the Blues. Always crazy when you get to the point of the season where there is just 1 team left at home before playoffs. This should be an interesting one as the Blues fight for jobs and the Preds fight for playoff positioning.
Till then, take care.
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to [email protected] if you wish to contact me personally.
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