If it is a Saturday night at the Bridge, then you know Sunday Shots are coming… SlapShot Radio’s photographer was out and about capturing the color and the action at Bridgestone Arena and today’s Sunday Shots … You can check them out at SlapShotRadio.com Courtesy SlapShot Radio/DLM
The first Golden Saturday at Bridgestone Arena could be classified as a success, a 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers on the strength of a sparkling 31 save shutout performance by Pekka Rinne, timely scoring from Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg and some fine physical play as Shea Weber and James Neal combined for 10 hits in the surprisingly physical contest.
Nashville’s second win of the season featured excellent penalty killing as well, successfully killing off five opportunities, some caused by a little frustration from the rather chippy game. But the big story in last night’s game was the goaltending. Edmonton’s Cam Talbot weathered a blistering attack in the last 10 minutes of the first period, keeping the game scoreless until finally giving up Craig Smith’s goal late in the second… one he had no real shot at. Talbot, who played NCAA D1 hockey at UAH about 90 miles south of Nashville, is showing that he is a number one netminder in this league. It does look like the Oilers have found their solution in net.
And then there’s Pekka, who is off to another strong start to the season… back-to-back wins, 56 saves on 57 shots and his 37th career shutout. Rinne has been moving well, tracking the puck crisply and is showing mid-season form early. The shutout earned Rinne the Third Star of the Night on nhl.com.
A word about this Edmonton team… they seem to be headed in the right direction. First round draft pick Connor McDavid will be very good, however he needs time to adapt to playing among men… the youngster has so many expectation heaped upon him, this may be the most difficult part of his professional career. A little patience will go a long way with this rookie.
So, opening weekend is done… the second game saw a much more consistent effort than Opening Night and the Predators head out for their first road trip of the season. Tuesday night in New Jersey, Thursday in Brooklyn and finishing the roadie in Ottawa Saturday night.
Here are the highlights from nhl.com.
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Random Notes
- Colin Wilson had a strong game last night, setting up Smith’s goal and generating multiple chances.
- Giving a welcome to the hundreds of Buffalo fans in the house last night, they decided to make it a doubleheader, catching the Preds last night and the Bills/Titans game today at Nissan Stadium.
- The Oilers head to Dallas to complete their season opening road trip on Tuesday night.
- Wild one at the Pepsi Center last night as the Dallas Stars blew a 3-1 lead, losing 6-3 to the Av’s. The Stars gave up five unanswered goals.
- The Blackhawks completed the home and home sweep of the Islanders at United Center with a 4-1 win.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are probably sick of seeing the Rangers, New York beat the Jackets for the second consecutive game, keeping Columbus winless.
- Somebody break up the ‘Yotes! Arizona is 2-0 after taking down the Penguins in the Coyotes home opener.
- Wow… it could be a long year for Flyer fans… Florida hammered the Fly guys 7-1.
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Season eight of SlapShot Radio is on! Join us Wednesday at 7pm on 102.5 the Game when Pete Weber and I preview the upcoming week and take a look back at the first few games of the season. Pete will be joining us from New York.
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