What a weekend in Smashville as round two got off to a rollicking start with the Winnipeg Jets achieving what they needed, a split in the first two games of the best of seven with Nashville. A weird game one, followed by a game two display of the uptempo, firewagon hockey everyone expected out of this series.
Last night saw a desperate Nashville Predators team deliver when necessary. Timely saves, nice traffic in front of the net and the satisfying delivery of a double overtime game winner from Kevin Fiala. It was a huge win for the Predators as they certainly did not want to go to Winnipeg in an 0-2 hole.
Last night was just a fun hockey game to watch, even though it may have added a gray hair or two to both Pred fans and Jets fans. The entertaining game exceeded the off-ice excitement … from Carrie’s stirring anthem, to the biggest catfish I have ever seen being used as a beer stein for the Titans offensive line, to the surprise appearance of Chris Issak (Wicked Game, Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing) playing the first intermission and Phil Vasser in the second intermission, both joining house band Small Time Rock Stars… once again Smashville entertained like no one else can.
The Predators got the scoring going early as Ryanm Johansen scored the first of his two markers just :27 seconds into the game, taking advantage of a patented Viktor Arvidsson jump screen to put the Preds up 1-0, but the Jets came roaring back… taking a 2-1 lead on goals from Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Schilfele into the room at the first intermission.
That lead would last about 5 minutes into the second period when PK Subban blasted home a laser from the high slot, wiring home a power play goal to tie the game. The back-and-forth continued and the nasty factor continued to creep up in the game until, with a little over a minute to go in the period, Filip Forsberg got his second assist of the game. An innocuous poke forward of a loose puck right to Viktor Arvidsson streaking down right wing… and Arvy made it count, beating Connor Hellebuyck with a wicked slapper to put the Preds up 3-2 heading into the second intermission. You would think that the Preds would go in happy… but unfortunately, the discipline demon raised its’ ugly head in the waning seconds. A cross check from Ryan Ellis and co-incidental roughing minors against Nick Bonino and Mark Scheifele put the Jets on the power play to start the third period.
Once again a lead had trouble making it past the six minute mark of a period. After the Predators killed off the power play, Winnipeg tilted the ice, resulting in Brandon Tanev scoring his second of the series, tying the game at three. You then were watching to see how Nashville would react… what would be their response?
:34 seconds later, Ryan Johansen put a power move on and went bar down to wrest the lead back from the Jets… exactly the response Pred Nation was looking for. From this point on… the refs swallowed the their whistles and it was on. Up and down, brilliant skating, nasty behind the play action, both teams scratching for any advantage they could find. That advantage came with the net empty with two minutes to go. Nashville could not seem to clear the puck without an icing call and it came back to bite them as Mark Scheifele potted his second of the game to tie it up and send the game to overtime.
This is the type of situation where the depth of Nashville’s experience could be drawn on… the been there, done that could be a key to overtime… and it was.
Nashville came out flying in overtime, playing with the kind of desperation they had to have in order to even this series up. Showing the kind of resilience this team has been known for, locking down on defense and getting some really timely goaltending from Pekka Rinne. Back and forth, the first overtime decided nothing.
Once again the Preds came out with purpose and fire in the second overtime and this time, a simple little Kyle Turris outlet to Craig Smith just over five minutes in had some speed that quickly turned into a 2 on 1. Smith waited, gave Kevin Fiala a sweet feed at the top of the circle and Fiala patiently dumped home a backhand to win it and tie the series.
And there was much rejoicing…
The play of the top two lines were the key to last night’s win. The FiST line had the game winner, the JoFA line generated three goals and five assists… the big guns came to play. They will have to continue that as the series swings to Winnipeg.
Game three is Tuesday night.
Here are the highlights from last night… ------------------------------------
The Playoff Tracker … a daily update of the Stanley Cup Playoffs brought to you by Mark Lonsway - THE real estate professional for hockey fans!
Every series (so far) has featured a split in the first two games, let’s see if Tampa can keep that streak going and Vegas heads into hostile territory tonight as they visit the Shark Tank.
Eastern Conference Tampa Bay Lightning vs Boston Bruins – BOS leads 1-0 - Game two is tonight in TBL Washington Capitals vs. Pittsburgh Penguins – Series tied 1-1 - Game three is tomorrow in PIT
Western Conference Nashville Predators vs. Winnipeg Jets – Series tied 1-1 - Game three is tomorrow in WPG Vegas Golden Knights vs. San Jose Sharks – Series tied 1-1 - Game three is tonight in SJS
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Random Notes
- Smashville… you brought it hard last night… thanks for chipping in on the starting lineup!
- I met some really nice Winnipeg fans over the weekend, they were having a blast and enjoying Smashville... they even contributed to the Preds Foundation by taking a whack or two at the SmashPlane. They understood that it was for charity, unlike a certain mayor.
- Ryan Johansen was an absolute beast last night…
- The Predators resilience keeps getting talked about. Those experiences can be positive if you fix the causes.
- The next two are going to be interesting as the best home team in the NHL meets the best road team in the NHL.
- After double OT last night, I may have trouble staying up for the Vegas/San Jose game, but I will be curious to see how Vegas handle their first taste of playoff adversity.
- Big win for the Caps yesterday, tying their series with Pittsburgh. Home ice hasn’t meant much so far in this second round.
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