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Nice Rebound

February 20, 2019, 8:35 AM ET [6 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Well that was a fun one! A see-saw game that saw the Preds score first, go up 2-1, go down 3-2, come back to take a 4-3 lead and eventually win 5-3 in a crazy win over the reeling Dallas Stars. It was two separate games really, the first 30 minutes were well-paced but tight. The second 30 was insane, an apt description from the Dallas broadcast team as they described it as an Ali/Frasier fight breaking out.

This would be a very fun first round matchup.

Brian Boyle got the scoring started, scoring only the third first period goal for Nashville in the last 14 games. Boyle got the play started with a borderline play on Dallas captain Jamie Benn behind the Predators net… while Benn was trying to sell the play for a penalty, Boyle hustled down to join the play, pouncing on a rebound in the slot to put the Preds up 1-0. Benn was not happy, but frankly… should’ve kept playing. The first ended at 1-0 after a nice late push from the Stars.

The Stars picked up where they left off in the second period, finally cracking Pekka Rinne with a nasty snipe from Jason Spezza to tie the affair. Things balanced out a little until Rocco Grimaldi put the Preds up 2-1 with a get drive to the net, causing goaltender Anto Khudobin to bite hard on a deke and depositing the puck past the overcommitted goalie to put the Preds up 2-1.

A few minutes later… all hell broke loose. Dallas put on another late period push, this time getting rewarded with goals from Esa Lindell and Tyler Seguin just :26 seconds apart to put the Stars up 3-2.

That lead lasted for exactly :21 seconds.

The celebration of Fil-bruary continued as Forsberg potted his 21st picking up the loose change in front of the net to tie the game heading into the room. That goal was a big one as it headed off any doubt for this team as they came out for the third. Roman Josi picked up the game winner just 7:35 in and iced it with an empty netter with :31 seconds to go.

Certainly a big win for the Predators, especially after the egg laid in Vegas. It’s something to build on as the Predators return home for a three game homestand, starting tomorrow night as the LA Kings hit town, then Colorado for a Saturday evening 4:30pm start time and finishing it off with a Monday night tilt against the Edmonton Oilers.

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The Where We Stand section

Nashville maintains the second slot in the Central Division, one point behind the Winnipeg Jets, Winnipeg holds three games in hand over Nashville. The Preds lead St. Louis by six points, Dallas by 12 and Minnesota by 15.

Nashville currently holds the 4 seed in the Western Conference playoff race and has a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs according to SportsClubStats.com… the “85% chance” line in the Western Conference is down to 88 points right now.

Impact Game Tonight – 7:30pm, WPG @ COL.

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Random Notes

- Milwaukee Update – The Admirals travel to Cleveland for their next game, a Friday night tilt with the Monsters. Head coach Karl Taylor will be on SlapShot Radio tonight to discuss the team.

- Another O-fer – The power play went 0-2 last night. Although Boyle’s goal came off a continuation of a power play series, just seven seconds after it expired.

- Positive Sign – The JoFA line was held to one point last night, Forsberg’s goal. Nice to see the secondary scoring pick up as Dallas was doing everything it could to contain the top line.

- Positive Sign 2 – Kyle Turris was a factor in last night’s game, he is beginning to look like the Turris Pred Nation saw when he first got to Nashville.

- Bidding War – The rumors of a Matt Duchene deal just intensified as word breaks from Ottawa that he will not play until the trade deadline passes. Duchene has more assuredly played his last game in a Senators uniform. The other rumors involve a bidding war between Nashville and Ottawa for his services.

- Quoteable – Ya gotta love John Tortorella… When Artemi Panarin was sick for last night’s game, rasing trade speculation… the response was classic Torts… “He's sick, he s--- his pants, he was puking...”

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