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Nashville takes down Flyers in wild one - UPDATE Pictures Added

October 11, 2017, 9:30 AM ET [14 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Here are the Opening Night Shots as SlapShot Radio's intrepid photographer captured all the action of Opening Night in Smashville


Click on the pic to see them all!...

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I have seen some nutty games in my years of watching hockey on Broad Street in my youth and at 501 Broadway… figures those two teams would be involved in one of the craziest ones I have ever seen. Last night’s 6-5 come-from-ahead/come-from-behind win in the Preds home opener saw the Preds get their first two points of the new season… finally. But those two points did not come easy.

The day started off with the usual opening night fanfare… the players coming in the arena on a gold carpet ceremony, with a twist… Broadway was closed off for Tootsie’s Annual Birthday Celebration, so the players walked the stage before hitting the plaza. Grey, overcast and drizzle started off the gold carpet… a steamy start had most folks soaked before they got into the rink (including this observer.) But Smashville was determined to welcome their heroes and a good crowd braved the elements.

Attention then turned to raising the banner. Preds Game Ops doing their normal stellar job. Emotions were running high after the banner raising and the Predators fed off those emotions. No one more than Craig Smith who potted the first goal of the game, a greasy, lunch bucket goal from the veteran. Then another vet, Scott Hartnell, in his first game back on Broadway scored his 2nd of the season, and then another newcomer… Nick Bonino made the score 3-0… the Predators were off and running.

Until…

The Predators went on a parade to the penalty box, giving the Flyers multiple power play opportunities that killed any momentum the Predators had built and a three goal outburst in less than five minutes had the game tied and a sold out Bridgestone Arena stunned at the second intermission.

The Flyers weren’t done, pumping two more goals in the first 6 and a half minutes of the third period to take a 5-3 lead. At that point, Philly was looking to lock it down and head back to the City of Brotherly Love with another two points and a successful 3-1-0 road trip.

Until…

Filip Forsberg decided to take over the game, 50 seconds later going top shelf after being sprung by a beauty of a lob pass from Ryan Johansen to draw the Predators within one… and as a bonus… give Smashville free Frosty’s.

The game settled down a bit, but you could feel the momentum swing back to the Predators as they continued to press, you knew a break was coming, you just weren’t sure where.

The break happened at 17:19 of the third when a play you don’t see very often happened. Two referees called two different penalties on the same play, putting the Predators on a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes and Philly fans into panic mode. It took a little over a minute for Scott Hartnell to get his second of the game to tie things up with 77 seconds remaining in regulation and overtime seemed to be inevitable.

Until…

Still trying to figure out what Philly head coach Dave Hakstol was thinking… he challenged Hartnell's tying goal on the hope that the play was offside… it wasn’t… and that peculiar call frankly, cost his team a point. You know the rest of the story… Preds continue the 5-on-3, Scoresberg comes out again, getting his second of the night… drop the mic, game over.

Two points is two points, the Preds can feel good about that, but much work is left to be done. Next up is the Dallas Stars, tomorrow night… 7pm puck drop.

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Random Notes

- Last night was the 19th anniversary of the first regular season game in Predators history.

- It was great to see Mike Fisher last night…

- Preds rookie d-man Samuel Girard was obviously having a blast in his first NHL game, the kid is small and shifty and even if he gets sent back to juniors this season, it won’t be long before the teenager is calling Nashville home.

- Speaking of rookies, Flyers Nolan Patrick scored the first of his NHL career last night.

- Vegas did a great job on their opening last night…

- Nice to see Nick Bonino crack the scoreboard as well last night, getting his first goal as a Pred.

- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit club has now won 12 consecutive games, beating Traktor 3-0 yesterday with Tolvanen posting his 9th assist of the season. Tolvanen now has 11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in 16 games so far. Jokerit goes for lucky 13 tomorrow against Lada.

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SlapShot Radio has an exciting season in store for our tenth anniversary season. As the longest running hockey show in the region, SSR feeds hockey fans what they crave… intelligent, fun, entertaining talk about their favorite sport and we do it from the opening of training camp all the way through UFA day… the only local hockey show that does that.

We are on every Wednesday night at 7pm on the Predators flagship station, 102.5 the Game. Our new co-hosts are ex-Preds Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bringing a true insiders perspective to the show. Well… almost every Wednesday… our next show is Saturday at 8am… we are stepping aside for the players show…

We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results at a reasonable price. Just ask our sponsors… including day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com.

We are also welcoming a new sponsor to the SlapShot Radio family… The Crag… Nashville’s premiere location for indoor rock climbing. Newton Dominey and his awesome crew have a great location in Cool Springs and they are opening a new location in South Nashville at the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Nolensville Rd. Check out their website at ILoveRockCLimbing.com If you’ve never done it before… you need to try, they specialize on helping first timers.

Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great preseason advertising deals available for our tenth season when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.

If you are outside of the listening area, listen live online at The Game website or check out the podcast about two hours after the show at on SoundCloud.

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