The Nashville Predators entered the game vs the San Jose Sharks clear underdogs. No one gave them a chance with the injuries that had mounted (including myself). The 16,562 at the Sommet Center were treated to an unlikely outcome, as the Preds scored 3 unanswered goals in the 2nd period, and then hung on to win 3-2.
Felder’s FANTASTIC Five:
1. A Staunch Defensive Effort - What a great defensive effort all around by the Predators tonight. They made things very hard on San Jose at even strength. The neutral zone play and forechecking kept the Sharks at bay if you will. Huge credit goes to the likes of Zanon, Weber, Hamhuis, Bonk, and Smithson for their stand out play defensively. Bonk and Smithson were tasked with shutting down the Thornton line, and did just that.
2. The ImPekkable Rinne Riddle - Pekka is what he is, an athletic freak that stops pucks routinely. The biggest thing for me is I can't remember the last time he gave up a weak goal or was caught out of position down this stretch run. The guys a machine and when he does get scored on, the opponent certainly earned it. Rinne is 15-0-2 when given 3 goals of support or more (hat tip to Mike for the stat) so if the Preds just keep scoring, Peks will keep them winning.
3. Chipping In From Unlikely Sources - Bonk and Zanon picked great times to get back on the scoresheet. Bonk is obviously coming back from injury and Zanon scored for the first time since January, a stretch of 33 games. In tough injury times like these, those unlikely goals are so key and tonight the guys really stepped up.
4. Riding the Games Momentum - Sometimes you can see a team take the momentum and use it. Tonight was that case. The Preds were jumped off from Bonk's goal, and then scored a couple more to steal this game right back. The crowd responded and so did the team. It's always fun to see momentum translate into a win on the ice.
5. Getting Physical - Well, I don't know what the heck snapped in Jody Shelley's brain, but he went beyond the physical line. The Sharks obviously got tough with the Preds, but Nashville did not let them keep things going that way. At the end of the night, it was the Preds who had out hit San Jose 38-19. When I spoke to some of the guys in the locker room they all stressed that the physical element of the game was an important one to take advantage of in order to win.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches were Jason Arnott, Wade Belak, David Legwand, Ryan Jones, and Ville Koistinen.
* 1ST PERIOD
* POWER PLAY GOAL for SAN JOSE - 4:37 to go. The Sharks take advantage of a high sticking penalty taken by Scott Nichol. Setoguchi gives to Christian Ehrhoff at the blueline. Ehrhoff fakes a shot and then feeds the puck to Joe Pavelski in the middle of the slot, all alone. Pavelski takes the time and space and wires the puck in high stick side on Pekka Rinne. Peks had no chance as Pavelski found the buffer area between the Pred penalty killers that was not covered. Pavelski from Ehrhoff and Setoguchi. Sharks take the 1-0 lead late in the 1st period.
* 2:35 to go and Ryan Suter just misses a great chance on the power play. He found a spot at the top of the faceoff circle to Nabokov's left that allowed him to wire the puck across Evgeni's body to the stick side. He had Nabby beat, but glanced the puck off the far post.
* END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – SJ: 1 NSH: 0. Positives - A pretty staunch defensive effort. Peks has played like his usual self. Out shot the Sharks 10-7. Won 57% of the faceoffs so far. Negatives - Failed to take advantage of the power play opportunity. Gave up too much space on the PK and it cost them.
* 2ND PERIOD
* 17:11 to go. Tootoo puts Dan Boyle into the boards, but in the boarding fashion. After the whistle is blown, Brad Lukowich comes in very late and decks Toots against the boards as well. Jordin was defenseless here. Now, Lukowich definitely did a dirty thing. Also, Tootoo certainly merited a boarding call. The Sharks scored on the ensuing power play. That said, Lukowich had no business coming in late and hitting Tootoo like that, regardless of the situation or player. The Sharks got the goal so Toots paid the price for his penalty. That should have been enough.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for SAN JOSE - 16:48 to go. A rebound pops out to Rinne's stick side. Devin Setoguchi flies in and puts the puck past a diving Rinne. That is Setoguchi's 30th goal this season. Rinne made an initial save, and then I give him credit for diving back to his stick side trying to glove down the shot from Seto. Rinne could have hurt himself with this effort because he went head first into the side of his net trying to make the play. Setoguchi from Michalek and Boyle. Sharks take the 2-0 lead.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for NASHVILLE - 12:26 to go. Radek Bonk uses a nifty feed from Shea Weber to score back door on Nabokov. Bonky caught just enough of the puck to lift the saucer pass up high glove side over the sprawling goaltender. A nice run down the left slot by Shea Weber draws the D and gives Bonk the space on the back side. Bonk from Weber and Martin Erat. Preds cut the lead in half to 2-1.
* 11:25 to go. Jerred Smithson misses a wide open back door chance on the 2 on 1 odd man rush. Radek Bonk gained the San Jose zone with speed, drew the defender and Nabokov to his fake shot, then slid the puck to Smithers on the stick side. Nabokov had come out to far and left Jerred the open net to hit. He pushed it wide right. A glorious chance missed by the grinder.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 10:27 to go. Steve Sullivan puts on the speed brakes as he fakes going around behind the net of Nabokov. He sees Erat camped on the stick side just next to the crease. A quick feed to Marty who then pops the puck on goal as quick as he can. The puck hits Nabby in the arm and deflects in on the stick side. Erat from Sullivan and Weber. Preds tie the game at 2.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 9:48 to go. Talk about a momentum swing! Jerred Smithson redeems himself with a big keep in. He gives the puck to Zanon at the blueline, and Greg wires on net. Somehow the puck slips in on Nabokov's glove side, stunning the net minder. Zanon from Smithson and Bonk. The Preds roar back to take the 3-2 lead over the Sharks.
* 8:36 to go and the fans show their appreciation of the comeback by busting out the TV Timeout standing O a little early. The Preds have scored 3 unanswered goals.
* END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – SJ: 2 NSH: 3. Positives - Can't complain about 3 unanswered goals. Some scoring from unexpected places is helping. Still leading the shot total 26 to 18. Still winning faceoffs, now with a 58% edge. Negatives - A costly boarding penalty by Toots. Our PK looks a little lost against the Sharks.
* 3RD PERIOD
* 2:30 to go. Ryan Suter gets tabbed for a cross check. What is inflammatory about this call is the shift before Travis Moen boards Dan Hamhuis and gets no call. I figured if you let the board go, you let a marginal cross check go but apparently not. As a note, the refs have been very inconsistent in their calls all night. That goes both ways because the Preds have gotten away with a couple as well.
* 1:20 to go and the Sharks pull Nabby to the bench for the extra attacker while on the power play. This makes it a 6 on 4 advantage for a bit.
* 1:02 to go and after Pekka Rinne robbed a Shark of a goal, San Jose calls timeout to try and game plan a way to crack the Rinne Riddle (a new phrase I'm coining right now!).
* The Rinne Riddle goes unsolved and the Preds pull the unlikely upset.
FINAL SCORE – SJ - 2 NSH - 3
My Three Stars:
1. Greg Zanon - 1 game winning goal, a +1, 4 shots on goal, 6 hits, and 4 blocked shots.
2. Pekka Rinne - 29 saves including 13 in the 3rd period alone.
3. Radek Bonk - 1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 3 shots on goal, 2 hits, 1 takeaway, and won 60% of his faceoffs.
Goalie Grade:A – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. Rinne gave up two power play goals, but if you look at them, he really had no chance. After the beginning of the 2nd period there was no solving the Rinne Riddle for the Sharks. How he didn't make the "official"3 Stars of the game is beyond me because he was STELLAR in the 3rd period.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "You had a couple really big hits out there. How important did you think it was to kind of push back physically against the Sharks tonight?"
Greg Zanon - "It was definitely important. They are a big team and they like to push us and we needed to show that we could push them right back. Weber and Hammer had some big hits. Toots I think really intimated their D tonight, their D started coughing up pucks after Toots laid out Lukowich and I think that was a big turning point in the game for us."
Felder - "Over the years it seems like you guys, when everyone counts you out, that's when you guys rise to the moment. Where do you think that comes from?"
Zanon - "It's just the love we have for each other in here. It's a team and that's the way we look at it. We lose a big part with Leggy not playing tonight but everybody steps up and we get it done. That's the way it works around here and that's the way we are bred here."
***
Felder - "Probably felt good to sort of redeem yourself after that missed open netter with a nice keep in that led to Zanon's goal."
Jerred Smithson - "*laughs* Yeah. I can't really say too much, that was a great pass by Bonky and I owe him one. Next time I'll bear down and put it in. On that play I just tried to tip it there to Zootch who was all alone. He got the shot away and their was a screen and it found the back of the net which was a huge bonus for us."
***
Felder - "Greg Zanon appeared to have one of his best games this season."
Barry Trotz - "I thought Zanon was outstanding. Good reads, real strong on the puck, down low coverage was really good. He almost made my heart drop out of my chest when he shot it all the way down the ice and it almost went over, but we sort of laughed after when it hit the end glass. But yeah he was real strong and I thought our whole defense core was real strong in the key moments of the game."
Felder - "Barry, it seems like whenever people begin to doubt this team and count them off you guys always rise up to the occasion. Where do you think that comes from?"
Trotz - "I just think it's with the culture, it's a little bit of everything. Our franchise is an expansion team we always have been sort of the underdog. I think we've built a culture here where we work hard, we're a family, and we're a team. Guys just sort of play for each other and play hard. Being an expansion team they doubted we could be competitive, and we were pretty competitive the first couple years. They doubted we could make the playoffs and we made the playoffs. We've had everything from ownership changes to limited resources in some areas for our team, but we don't really make excuses, we look at that as an opportunity. When players get a chance or someone gets hurt it's an opportunity to show your character and we've got good character. When times are tough that's when you really reveal your character. Every time times are tough and we really respond in a positive way it reveals are character and I think we've got good character."
Final Thoughts:
They're not dead yet! Back in 8th place and fighting through injuries. Tonight was an incredible and gutsy performance from a team that I had pretty much counted out. If they somehow find a way to keep picking up wins despite the injuries, then that would be quite a story. Tonight was step #1, and it was a firm step in the right direction. Just 8 games to go though.
The Predators next game is this Saturday night, err..., afternoon, sort of. The game time for the contest vs the Los Angeles Kings is set for 5 pm CST. So don't forget to leave a couple hours earlier than normal. This is a must win considering the Kings placement in the standings. If the Preds find a way to lose this upcoming game, then the win tonight over San Jose amounts to nothing more than replacing the points they should have earned against the Kings. Instead, lets just watch them take care of business, what do you say?
Till then, take care.
Don’t forget to tune into the Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio show, Monday nights from 6 to 7 pm on WNSR 560 A.M. with Paul McCann and myself discussing all things Preds! Listen in at the WNSR Website for the best new Preds radio show around! The podcasting for the Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio show can be found at the following: Nashville Hockeybuzz Radio Podcast. Enjoy!
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