Tag: Frederik Andersen

Preds silence Ducks 3-2

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Image Source: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

After knocking off the Winnipeg Jets Saturday night 7-0, the Predators were looking to extend that momentum against the Ducks last night in their last meeting of the 2015-16 season (weird). Nashville picked off the Ducks earlier this season on October 22nd at home with a 5-2 victory, but Anaheim got their revenge at home shortly thereafter on November 1st with a 4-2 win. After a 4-1 victory in Carolina the night before, you’d think Anaheim would be a little worn out; oh no. As usual, the boys in gold and… orange came out scrapping. Here are some highlights from last night’s Western Conference match up:

First Period
• Around 6:56 in the first period (unsurprisingly) things started to get a little heated on the ice and a fist fight finally broke out. Between who? Mike Fisher and former Vancouver Canuck, Kevin Bieksa. Even if you don’t know what last night’s finally score was, there’s a good chance you’ve still come across the video/gif of Fisher vs. Bieksa at some point today. You haven’t? Here ya go:

I swear, it gets worse the more times you watch it. Bieksa ended up heading to the locker room afterwards, but came back. Apparently, per an interview after the game was over, it was not one of his real teeth, but a fake one. I don’t know… I’m not very familiar with fake teeth, but the thing looks like it’s hanging in there by a… root.
giphy

• After the tooth incident, the Ducks took a few penalties to give Nashville several chances on the powerplay. Shea Weber sent one of his infamous slapshots past Frederik Andersen for his sixth goal of the season. Roman Josi picked up the lone assist, which just so happened to be his 100th NHL assist.

• Just over a minute later at 10:47, Rickard Rakell would tie the game at 1 with his third goal of the season.

• James Neal would notch his ninth goal of the season with a softie between Andersen’s five-hole, giving Nashville the 2-1 lead.

Second Period:
• The second period would be a little less eventful for the most part, unless you are Miikka Salomaki. The rookie notched his first goal of the season at 6:13 into the second and chased Andersen from the net. Mattias Ekholm picked up his fifth assist on Salomaki’s goal.

• Oh yea, it wasn’t uneventful either if you are Pekka Rinne. Anaheim began to wake up during the second period and it was up to Rinne to keep them out.
https://twitter.com/MCHisTweeting/status/666804533629186048Pekka made several of these moves throughout the night, stopping all but two goals (38 total).

Third Period:
• Sleepy time sort of hit Nashville during the third, which usually happens in the second period. As mentioned before, Pekka saved some serious butt (as usual). Former Predator, Mike Santorelli netted his third goal of the season for Anaheim at 5:33, leaving the Ducks just down by one point. Lucky for Nashville, their boys held it together and sealed the victory 3-2.

• But not before Kevin Bieksa left another souvenir for the Predators.

I’ll admit, I’ve never seen a broken stick launched into the netting above the glass before. It looked like a slow moving boomerang when it snapped. I’m thinking it should be left there as a reminder to always keep an eye out for flying objects.

So the real MVP of this win against the Ducks is – no doubt – Pekka Rinne.

You know, he isn’t called “The Eraser” for nothing. He has been known in the past to erase a lot of mistakes. Last night was certainly no exception. The sloppy passes are a yellow flag, in my opinion. I missed Saturday night’s game (of course) so I did not see how well their stick-handling skills were, but the previous games (Toronto, Senators, Blues) it looked pretty rough. Some teams latch onto that weakness pretty quickly, others don’t quite grasp it quick enough and Nashville slipped by with the win. Rinne looked like good ole Pekka last night and it was a very good thing. Anaheim netted 40 SOG compared to Nashville 21; as mentioned above, Peks stopped 38 of those. The Ducks, despite playing the night before, sure didn’t look like a back-to-back game team; they were out for blood and the two points.

Alas, the home stance is over and Nashville is off to another road trip. The Predators’ next game is this Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 6PM.

 

 

Preds fall to Ducks in Shootout 4-3

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Source: Harry How/Getty Images North America

After a nail-bitter of third period game last night against the Kings, the Predators hopped on a bus and made the exhausting trip across the street to Anaheim this morning to face the Ducks. But not just any Ducks; nope. The Anaheim Ducks are currently 25-9-6 and not only the leader of the Western Conference, but the leader of the entire league. Needless to say, a win in regulation would look and feel wonderful for the Predators tonight.

SCRATCHES: James Neal (still day-to-day), Victor Bartley, and Miikka Salomaki

First Period:

  • The Ducks lit the lamp at 12:15 to get the “puck” rolling, a clean wrister from Matt Beleskey past Carter Hutton.
  • Yes, Carter Hutton. Despite Pekka Rinne being a master in the net, he needs rest and cannot play in every single game; especially not this many back-to-backs. Contrary to popular belief, the man his human.
  • Anaheim would tally 14 shots-on-net compared to Nashville’s nine, so give Hutton some credit, guys.

Second Period:

  • Mattias Ekholm would get Nashville on the board at 1:38, not wasting any time tying up the game. Mike Ribeiro (24) and Filip Forsberg (23) nab the assists on Ekholm’s third goal of the season.
  • Noteworthy: Filip Forsberg has now officially tied Alexander Radulov’s rookie record in points.
  • Corey Perry wouldn’t give the Predators much time to celebrate, giving Anaheim the 2-1 lead at 2:52.
  • At 13:50, Seth Jones would come in past Frederik Andersen for a powerplay goal. Ryan Ellis (12) and Mike Ribeiro (25) would pick up the assists on Jones’ second goal of the season.
  • Moments later, at 17:14, Nashville would take a 3-2 lead with a powerplay wrister from Craig Smith (12). Ryan Ellis (13) and Mike Ribeiro (26) would nab the assists on this goal, too.
  • This period, Nashville would take the lead in shots at 13 to Anaheim’s five.
  • Just a few seconds remaining the the second, Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen decided to give Mike Fisher a nice “neck hug”. That nice gesture gave Nashville a powerplay opportunity going into the third, so thanks.

Third Period:

  • The third period would be rather quiet until 17:43 when Francois Beauchemin decided to tie the game, his second goal of the season.
  • Anaheim deserved this goal in third, as they took fourteen shots to Nashville’s meager three on goal.

OVERTIME:

  • No goals, shootout time.

SHOOTOUT:

  • NSH – Roman Josi – MISS
  • ANA – Corey Perry – MISS
  • NSH – Ryan Ellis – MISS
  • ANA – Jakob Silfverberg – GOAL
  • NSH – Craig Smith – GOAL
  • ANA – Ryan Kessler – GOAL

Le sigh. An overtime loss to the leaders of the league. Believe me, it’s disheartening, but here’s the good news: it wasn’t a loss in regulation. Any points with how close the race is in the league (division, conference, league) is better than nothing. Keep that glass half full, my friends.

However, these blown late third period leads could spell trouble later on down the road if Nashville doesn’t get a firm grip on those quick. These types of instances are far worse an any terrible powerplay action could ever be. I am confident this issue will be addressed rather swiftly.

May I also suggest not placing the blame on Carter Hutton for the loss tonight. No, he does not have Pekka Rinne’s caliber, but remember, he’s in the NHL for a reason. Hutton blocked 30 of 33 shots tonight, which is pretty good for someone who rarely sees ice time. And no, Nashville will not be calling up a goaltender – Mangus Hellberg – to combat Carter Hutton; he’s not a bad goaltender. End of statement.

The Predators head home tonight to rest in preparation for the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night. This may also be a good time to put Hutton in and give Pekka more rest.