SlapShot Radio’s photographer was out and about, capturing the action, the fans and the color last night at a sold out Bridgestone Arena, here are today’s Sunday Shots.
 |
| From Predators vs Avalanche January 18, 2014 |
Now… on to last night…
You could forgive Nashville Predators fans for maybe having high expectations from a debut of a new acquisition. Many long time fans remember Steve Sullivan's electrifying debut. You could safely say that those expectations were not met last night. The debut of Devan Dubnyk was one of the more inauspicious lid lifters on a Predators career, allowing five goals on 29 shots certainly wasn’t what the Predators expected when the acquired the big goalie from Edmonton.
To be fair to Dubnyk, he got no help from his defense. Awful giveaways from normally responsible players, blown assignments, poor clearing attempts… all led to goals... and before Pred Nation had really settled in for the game, their team was down 3-0. At that point, Predators head coach Barry Trotz called his timeout to get his team's attention. The move worked as Nashville played a more disciplined game after that, but Dubnyk never appeared to get into any kind of groove, he fought the puck all night long and had a case of nerves that really seemed to unhinge the normally unflappable netminder.
Give credit to Nashville, they continued to take over the play, finally getting on the board with a power play goal from Patric Hornqvist with about 5 minutes to go in the second. The Predators put on massive pressure at the end of the period leading to a Shea Weber howitzer that crossed the goal line .01 seconds after time expired for the period. A lucky break for Colorado.
Colorado came out strong in the third and Dubnyk continued to fight the puck, giving up two more goals, putting the Av’s up 5-1 and sending a lot of fans to the exits, until Craig Smith netted his 15th of the year two minutes later, then Ryan Ellis drew the Predators within two with a nasty slapper four minutes after that. Pred Nation dared to hope, would a comeback be in the offing? Hope turned to expectation as Roman Josi snapped one past Avalanche goaltender Senyan Varlamov with 2:57 to go in the game, pulling the Preds to a 5-4 deficit and sending Bridgestone Arena into a frenzy.
Unfortunately, the completion of the comeback was not to be as Colorado simply didn’t allow the Predators to set up anything in their own end and came away with the two points. Here are your highlights from last night… Last night’s loss coupled with Vancouver’s and Minnesota’s win puts the Preds 10 points back in the Wild Card race. All losses are disappointing and there is no excuse for the poor play in the first period, but I will give this team credit for not packing up the truck after going down 3-0, something to build on for tomorrow night’s game against Dallas. Game time is 7pm.
----------------------------------
Random Notes
- Eric Nystrom and Cody MacLeod got together on a nice scrap early in the game.
- The paring of Seth Jones and Mattais Ekholm went -3 last night, in this case, the stat is fully reflective of the performance.
- Unbelievable beginning to the Flames/Canucks game last night, haven’t seen this kind of line brawl in a long time… in case you missed it…
- Another factoid from the brawl filled Flames/Canucks game… Kellain Lain made his NHL debut; that lasted exactly two seconds before he was tossed.
- A bizarre evening all around as the LA Kings lost a game they had won. A simply ridiculous non-review on a goal that should not count ties the game that the Kings go on to lose in a shootout. Imagine if the Red Wings sneak into the playoffs by 1-2 points (a real possibility) the team who lost out will be understandably upset. Here’s the play… I got into a discussion with one of the off-ice officials when this happened, his take… all goals are reviewable and video review should’ve overturned it. If they can do it for a goal scored with a high-stick, why not here?
- The always entertaining LA Kings Twitter feed was pretty funny as that played out… my personal favorite was the (now deleted) comment of “Hey @NHL… we need to talk.…
- So, apparently all it took was the Flyers signing Steve Mason to an extension to have the real Steve Mason finally show up in Philly.
- Three games today – 11:30am start – (NHL on NBC game) Bruins @ Blackhawks. 4pm start – Lightning @ Hurricanes. 6:30pm start – Capitals @ Rangers.
--------------------------------------
You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game! 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.
-------------------------------------
SlapShot Radio, Join Pete Weber and I as we chat with hockey’s best, every Wednesday night at 7pm on 102.5 the Game and the SlapShot Radio Network. This week’s show features guest co-host Jim Diamond, we will be chatting with ProHockeyTalk’s Joe Yerdon and much more.
We are proud to announce the latest member of the SlapShot Radio sponsorship family, The Wine Shoppe at Green Hills… a great place to get your adult beverages and the owners are HUGE Pred fans.
SlapShot Radio is also brought to you by Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry (615-872-7762), Nolensville Collision Repair Center and Burger Republic, check their excellent menu out at their website, Defend Quality… Burger Republic.
Want to be part of the SlapShot Radio family?
Advertisers… reach out to me to access our activated listener base, we have special deals available as we head toward our extensive Olympic coverage with the best hockey talk in the mid-South. Contact me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com
Radio station owners/programmers, contact us to carry SlapShot Radio on your station, we are satellite delivered every week via SkyView on the SlapShot Radio Network.
Our podcasts are posted… Click here to download or listen to any of this season’s podcasts.
-------------------------------------
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more information, click here.