The worries of Pred Nation were allayed last night as Pekka Rinne returned to his net after a one game break to post another outstanding effort, stopping 30 of 31 shots, posting his fourth consecutive win and showing that despite a lot of the pundit’s negative opinion of his current performance… well, to adapt a quote from Mark Twain… the rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated. Observers from outside the market, who just look at the stats, have been screaming about him being done for almost two years now. Never mind that a new system was put in place that fundamentally changed the game in front of him… that is just an inconvenient truth.
The Predators 5-1 dismantling of the Ottawa Senators was a joy to behold. We saw the home chemistry and effort come into being during the last homestand… now the team needs to develop that same thing on the road, consistency will be tested tomorrow night in St. Louis.
Give full marks to Ottawa, they did not roll over and play dead until the fourth goal. They just could not break through Rinne except for one early goal in the first. After a nice recognition of Mike Fisher’s 1000th game during pregame, the Senators came out with energy, the Preds came out with more… obviously wanting to get the taste of Tuesday night’s loss out of their mouths.
Colton Sissons got things going early, cracking Sens goaltender Mike Condon just a few minutes in. After Ottawa tied it up, the Preds went back to work… taking the lead seven minutes later on a Ryan Ellis goal that put the Predators in the lead to stay. That lead remained through a back and forth second period that saw Ottawa put on its best sustained pressure of the game, but Rinne was there. With less than three minutes remaining, Pontus Aberg scored his first NHL goal on a nasty snipe from the hash marks, putting the Preds up 3-1 and sending a sigh of relief through Pred Nation.
This Ottawa team has plenty of comeback in them, as they have shown over and over so far this season, but James Neal’s goal about 10 minutes into the third put out any dreams of comeback on this night. Neal’s goal was his 8th of the season and 6th straight game with a goal, tying the franchise mark for consecutive games with a goal. Mike Ribeiro finished the scoring a few minutes later to complete the 5-1 win.
The Predators fly to St. Louis today to prepare for a Saturday Central Division showdown with the Blues before returning home for the holiday week, as they have games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday before leaving the friendly confines of Bridgestone Arena again.
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In case you missed it… here is Wednesday’s SlapShot Radio podcast…
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Random Notes
- Very classy tribute to Mike Fisher pregame, presenting the Predators captain with a painting and a Senators jersey in recognition of his 1000th game played.
- Pekka Rinne picked up where he left off last night… his stats in his last four games? 4-0-0, .974 save percentage and a goals against of 0.75.
- James Neal tied the franchise record for consecutive goal scoring, the others that have scored six in a row? Filip Forsberg, Patric Hornqvist, Alex Radulov, and JP Dumont. Six in a row is also a career high for the Predators winger.
- Five games in the NHL tonight, all times central – 6pm – PIT @ NYI, DET @ WSH, NYR @ CBJ. 6:30pm – MTL @ CAR. 87pm - CHI @ CGY.
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