SlapShot Radio’s intrepid photographer was back capturing the action at the Bridge, see the album at the
the SlapShot Radio Facebook page.
All photos are courtesy of SlapShot Radio/DLM
A very special SlapShot Radio tonight… Pete and I will preview game four with San Jose Mercury News Sharks beat writer Curtis Pashelka and we will talking playoff coaching with a legend… 14 time Stanley Cup winner Scotty Bowman joins us… Don’t miss it. Tonight at 7 on 102.5 the Game, you can listen online at thegamenashville.com
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The Nashville Predators finally got rewarded for solid play with a bounce or two and a win in front of a crazed sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena. The 4-1 victory dew the series to 2-1 and featured all the hallmarks of a Pred win, defensive scoring, excellent special teams play, total team effort and outstanding goaltending. Pred Nation showed up in force with leather lungs and a ferocity that is traditional in Smashville during the playoffs, they were ready for playoff hockey and showed it early and often.
Things got off to a rough start as Sharks forward Patrick Marleau managed to do something nbot many players have done, split the defense against Roman Josi and Shea Weber, breaking in on an out-of-position Pekka Rinne to put the Sharks up 1-0 13 minutes in, briefly deflating the raucous sellout crowd. Nashville continued to bring a physical game, setting a tone for the two periods to come.
The second period started with a double minor called on Joonas Donskoi, the Sharks rookie sensation just 2 minutes in. The Predators had some trouble getting established in their zone but managed to establish some zone time in the second half of the power play, when Mattias Ekholm jumped into the play, and found James Neal down low and Neal potted the bad angle shot with a laser that San Jose goaltender still hasn’t seen. Pred Nation erupted.
The noise kept building at 501 Broadway as Nashville continued to press the play, when the Preds finally got their bounce. Colin Wilson with a nice defensive play at the blueline sprung Ryan Johansen who drove the slot and had the puck poked away from him by Brent Burns… which promptly bounced to Shea Weber who uncorked his lethal slap shot, blowing it by Martin Jones for the second Preds goal and the lead in the game. Weber’s goal tied the franchise record for career goals scored in the playoffs.
The Predators had to kill off a couple more power plays as the game progressed… but the game turned on that bounce. Colin Wilson’s back door goal off the rebound of a Ryan Ellis shot made it 3-1 on another fortunate bounce, but Filip Forsberg finally cracking the score sheet with a power play goal to give Pred Nation Frosty’s and hope that another Forsberg scoring string has begun. Forsberg’s goal was a top shelf beauty, going bar down… a hopeful harbinger for the fans of the fang.
The series is now 2-1, the Predators have the opportunity to tie it up tomorrow night at Bridgestone Arena, 8pm game time.
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Cause for Joy – The Predators special teams finally got their act together in their best performance of the playoffs. This team is showing that they have another level and are going there… it’s what Pred Nation has been waiting for.
Cause for Concern – San Jose played a better game than their game 2 win…
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Random Playoff Notes
- So much for swallowing their whistles… last night’s officials called it like a regular season game. Twelve penalties? Crazy…
- The Predators were outshot last night, but won the battle of the faceoff circle by winning 57% of their draws.
- Five on five play remains the key, the Predators continue to dominate even strength, fixing the power play and slight adjustments on the PK have worked.
- The Preds were 2-31 coming into last night’s game on the man advantage… they went 2-5 last night.
- The Predators continued to generate traffic in front of Martin Jones, but the San Jose goaltender had trouble with it last night,
- Overtime in Brooklyn last night as the Lightning won game 3 of their series with the Islanders to take a 2-1 lead.
- The St. Louis Blues scored 6 goals last night and all of a sudden the simmering goaltending controversy in Dallas has exploded into a full rolling boil. I have no idea what head coach Lindy Ruff is going to do as both Anttii Neimi and Kari Lehtonen have been subpar so far in this series.
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Second Round Snapshots
Lightning / Islanders – TBL Leads 2-1 – Game 4 FRI @ NYI – 6pm – NBCSN
Capitals / Penguins – PIT leads 2-1 – Game 4 Tonight @ PIT – 7pm – NBCSN
Stars / Blues – STL leads 2-1 – Game 4 Tomorrow @ STL – 7pm - NBCSN
Sharks / Predators – Sharks lead 2-1 – Game 4 tomorrow @ NSH – 8pm - CNBC
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Season eight of SlapShot Radio is on! Join us every Wednesday night at 7 on 102.5 the Game. Pete Weber and I cover the playoffs from pillar to post.
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