Exclusive photos from last night’s action at Bridgestone Arena.
Photos courtesy of DLM
After an offseason of turmoil, Pred Nation was ready for some hockey, preseason or not. The Nashville Predators delivered a wild second period, a few moments of worry and ultimately, hung on for a 4-3 victory in front of 14,701 fans at Bridgestone Arena. The win pushes the Preds preseason record to 4-1.
A few storylines from the game…
- Zack Stortini showed some interesting game last night. He caused a ruckus to begin the game, knocked the Jets off their game by drawing a double minor that led to two Predator power play goals and even showed a little offensive ability.
- Chet Pickard struggled a bit in net last night, but give him credit for coming back after Rinne left the game with a facial cut. He certainly needs to work on his rebound control, but he hung in there as Winnipeg attempted to tie the game up late in the third.
- Sergei Kostitsyn and Martin Erat both had goals and looked good the entire game.
The Predators announced roster cuts post game, not unexpected as Milwaukee’s camp begins on Monday. Per the clubs press release…
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced tonight that the club has assigned forwards Taylor Beck, Ryan Flynn, Jani Lajunen, Michael Latta, Juuso Puustinen, Josh Shalla, Robert Slaney; defensemen Taylor Aronson, Victor Bartley and Charles-Olivier Roussel and goaltenders Atte Engren and Chet Pickard to Milwaukee. Forwards Brodie Dupont and Ben Ryan were placed on the non-roster injured list.
The Predators also released forwards Joel Champagne and Mark Van Guilder; and defensemen Jeff Foss, Scott Ford and Scott Valentine from Professional or Amateur Tryout Agreements (ATOs/PTOs), with all five expected to attend the opening of Milwaukee’s training camp on Monday.
After their solid performance last night, Coach Barry Trotz announced that there is no on ice practice today. The team is back on the ice Monday and will play Washington on Wednesday night at the Bridge.
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Random Notes
- A little controversy on the game winning goal last night as the puck bounced off Patric Hornqvist’s skates as he was stopping, no distinct kicking motion but I’ve seen that call reversed by replay before.
- Plenty of fans made the short trip from Atlanta to see the game last night, a lot of Thrasher gear was evident in the crowd… and lots of them were holding bags containing their new Pred gear.
- Fun skit with Gnash last night welcoming Atlanta fans to Smashville.
- A bit of a homecoming last night as former Predator goaltender Chris Mason and former Milwaukee head coach Claude Noel are key parts of the Winnipeg organization.
- Funniest tweet of the night last night goes to Dirk Hoag over at “On the Forecheck” when he commented “Pekka Rinne makes an early exit due to injury... guessing it's shock after seeing the Preds score 3 PP goals in a row.”
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