Before we get to last night’s fun, please remember that SlapShot Radio is on tonight at 7pm… in our normal place between Preds Insiders and Penalty Box Radio on 102.5 the Game. The Hockey Block has three solid hours of hockey talk…
What a game last night at Bridgestone Arena! A game that had pundits waxing poetic about a potential Stanley Cup Final between these two teams. At times, the hockey was breathtaking, up and down action with just the right hint of nastiness… all the potential of a fine vintage with about six and a half months of aging.
The Tampa Bay Lightning came in with an insanely high-powered offense that scored seven of the last ten goals on the power play that was tied for in the race for the President’s Trophy with Nashville. A Monday Night heavyweight battle that did not disappoint.
Tamp broke the scoring early with a point blast from Victor Hedman that left a vapor trail as it rocketed past Pekka Rinne. Kyle Turris knotted the game ten minutes later on a sweet power play goal.
No … that’s not a typo… another power play goal from the Preds.
C’mon, you knew it wouldn’t last, this team is too talented to have the kind of power play it has shown… a power play that seems to be coming to life with 3 PPG’s in their last two games. It just feels different too, the puck movement is better, the passing seems a little more purposeful and the team is being rewarded for the effort.
The second period was all Nashville, the team seemed to hit the gas from puck drop and drove the Bolts to distraction, resulting in a frustration penalty. That penalty only came after Filip Forsberg potted his 13th of the year off a nice little Mattias Ekholm drop pass. The assist awarded to Ekholm was his 100th career NHL apple. Less than four minutes later, Ryan Johansen tipped in a bullet of a shot from Craig Smith for what would turn out to be the game winning goal.
The Lightning took the second intermission to regroup and came back a more disciplined, more determined team. That determination paid off quickly as Nikita Kucherov scored his 8th of the season a little over three minutes in on a wicked shot. The Bolts kept pressing and the Predators would not break… locking down defensively and relying on yeoman’s work from Pekka Rinne who posted 32 saves in the victory… his 319th career win that ties him with MIikka Kiprosoff for victories by a Finnish-born goaltender.
A solid all-around game from Nashville that led to the win. The power play is 3-7 in the last two games, a 42.8% conversion percentage… they have a long way to go to get the overall performance rate up to snuff, but this is a good start.
The Preds are back in action tomorrow night against St. Louis.
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Random Notes
- Milwaukee Update – The Ad’s are back in action Wednesday night. Ad’s Head Coach Karl Taylor is joining us tonight on SlapShot Radio for our “Down on the Farm… segment, sponsored by The Patrick J Brown Agency of Farmers Insurance.
- Another over-capacity crowd in Smashville last night. Through 10 dates so far this season, Smashville is at 101.2% of capacity, good for 6th in the league.
- The top line was smoking again as Craig Smith was added to the paring of Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg. It would also be fair to call out Kyle Turris, who is posting another excellent November for this team.
- Nasty night in Ottawa last night as a medical emergency involving a fan caused the first period to end early, adding time to the second and Vincent Trochek was stretchered off the ice with a leg injury that head coach Bob Bougner classified as “long term…
- Someone break up the Sabres! Six straight wins…
- The Blues have fired Mike Yeo… the second Central Division coach to bite the dust… Wonder if there is a Return of the Q coming in St. Louis. He could be back on the block… The interim coach for St. Louis is Craig Berube. Nashville plays their next two against the Blues.
- Mike Yeo only lasted a year and a half in the head coach role for the Blues after replacing Ken Hitchcock in February of 2017.
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