Now that is the way to go into a holiday break.
The Nashville Predators beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 last night at Bridgestone Arena winning back-to-back games for the first time since mid-November. It was a familiar scenario for Pred Nation, they watched a team get out chanced, out shot and out played… they watched a goalie stand on his head, only this time, it was the Predators that won, in a game that two weeks ago they would’ve lost.
It is very easy to empathize with Hab fans this morning. They just watched their team drop their fourth straight game even though Montreal did some very good things, it certainly was a case of things just not going their way. Heck, even a coaches challenge went against them that could be argued either way and frankly… I was shocked the goal was reversed.
The postgame quotes from Montreal coach Michel Therrien sounded a lot like quotes that the Nashville press have gathered over the past few weeks… "Puck luck is going to turn … every goalie that we face, they end up having the first star. The thing a coach could ask is that they are focused on playing the right way, playing in a structure and having a really good work ethic. This is what we ask from the players."
So… have the Predators turned a corner? Are things evening out as Shea Weber indicated postgame? Perhaps… I will say that Weber has been a beast, taking this team on his back and leading the way in what could be his most Norris-worthy season of a career that should have a couple already. ON the postgame radio show last night, former coach Brent Peterson was effusive in his praise of both Weber and Roman Josi, stating that they face the best shutdown players from the opponent and continue to perform at a high level.
The Christmas break begins in Nashville… some players are heading out of town for a brief vacation, some will go visit families and some will bring their families to Music City. The team is back in action on Saturday night against Detroit.
The highlights from nhl.com…
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Random Notes
- All-Star Voting Update – Shea Weber continues at #26 in overall vote getters and is 8th in the Central race for captain of the team. Other Preds… Roman Josi is at #48, Pekka Rinne at #58. You can vote up to 10 times a day at the NHL’s All-Star Voting Site
- The Predators haven’t lost in regulation to the Canadiens since 11/14/09.
- Five of the seven Central Division teams are in action tonight, so this may change a little, but Nashville goes into the holiday break at 40 points, five points ahead in the Wild Card race and only four points out of second in the Central.
- A couple of crazy rallies last night… Dallas fell behind 0-2 in the first period but then went on to score 6 goals to take the win over Minnesota… Philly fell into a 0-3 hole before storming back to beat the Blues in regulation at Wells Fargo Center 4-3
- The Edmonton Oilers won their 7th straight at home last night… the longest active home win streak is 9 by the Calgary Flames.
- It’s the last night on NHL action before the holiday break and there are ten NHL games on the schedule tonight (all start times CT) – 6pm – ANA @ NYR, STL @ BOS. 6:30pm – NJD @ DET, VAN @ TBL, OTT @ FLA. 7pm – MTL @ MIN. 7:30pm – CHI @ DAL. 8pm – WPG @ CGY, TOR @ ARI. 9:30pm – SJS @ LAK.
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