The nastiness factor certainly cranked up in last night’s Predators / Blues showdown at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators take their first home win of November in a 3-2 shootout decision that was a show with everything but Yul Brenner… (sorry for the 80’s Murray Head reference, but it was there.) Fights, physical play, pretty goals, great goaltending and playoff level intensity were evident… oh, and even a little post-game presser drama. Yup… almost everything.
Saturday’s win snapped an overall six game losing streak, last night’s win snapped a five game home losing streak that went back to Halloween… and to end both with wins over St. Louis… that was fun.
The Predators got off to a flying start with two goals in the first period, Nick Bonino scored his 10th of the season eight minutes in, finishing off a sweet pass from Rocco Grimaldi who took and even sweeter outlet from Dante Fabbro, 3 and a half minutes later, Ryan Johansen buried his 4th of the year to put the Preds up 2-0, where it stayed for the next 20 minutes.
An eventful second period got started with a scrap between Matt Irwin and Mackenzie MacEachern. David Perron finally got the Blues on the board twelve and a half minutes into the second stanza to halve the lead. The teams went back and forth, trading chances and trading even better saves from both netminders until Brayden Schenn knotted the game seven minutes into the third period.
A furious push was put on by Nashville and Blues goalie Jake Allen was up to the task, making a few excellent saves to help send the game to OT where the teams played the entire five minute overtime without a whistle and without a score. On to the shootout… where Perron deposited the first attempt, putting the Preds in an 0-1 hole early… the next four shooters were stymied until Filip Forsberg sent the shootout into extra rounds with a simply filthy goal. After Robert Thomas missed in the 4th round, head coach Peter Laviolette sent out Daniel Carr.
Carr was just called up to replace the injured Viktor Arvidsson after lighting up the AHL. Carr did not disappoint, posting the game winner… and there was much rejoicing.
Oh… I did mention post game drama. Questions about Kyle Turris were asked, questions were answered… follow ups were asked… responses given and the presser was ended. I’ve watched a lot of these post game pressers, the tension was evident on these questions. Kudos to Adam Vingan and Joe Rexrode for the questions.
No time to enjoy it… an aggravated Vegas team, fresh off a Monday night spanking in Dallas comes to town for a Thanksgiving Eve showdown. Vegas has had a rough November as well and are currently on a three game losing streak.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- Back in September, if I would’ve told you that Filip Forsberg would have 10 goals by the last week in November, you would’ve said “yeah, that sounds about right.” If I told you Nick Bonino would also have 10 goals by that same week…
- When you look ahead to April… you definitely think that a Nashville / St. Louis matchup would be a really fun series to watch…
- Today is the NHL’s 102nd birthday.
- The annual “Gold Friday” sale is this Friday… ticket discounts for Bridgestone Arena Events, group ticket specials, and much, much more.
- Congrats to Henrik Lundqvist who won his 455th career NHL game last night, putting him all alone in 5th place on the NHL’s all-time goaltender wins list.
- The Dallas Stars are on a roll… last night’s win over Vegas was number seven in a row, tying the franchise record for win streaks.
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SlapShot Radio is back for our 12th season as Zack, Brent and I are now on Monday night’s this season. The best hour of hockey talk on the longest running hockey show in the southeast … 7pm Mondays on 102.5 the Game, except tonight, we will be on at 7pm…
Our sponsor list continues to grow. Not only are we welcoming back
Drs. Jane Bacon and Aileen Kruger at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762 and our good friend Carter Church, Your Murfreesboro real estate expert with Weichert – The Andrews Group. And our newest sponsors…
Cool Springs Wines and Spirits! The largest spirit store in all of middle Tennessee! And La-Z-Boy Nashville! Three locations, locally owned and operated, check out La-Z-Boy in Murfreesboro, Hendersonville and Cool Springs!
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