Jerred Smithson's shorthanded goal lifts Nashville past Minnesota, 4-3
by Dirk Hoag on Oct 28, 2009 11:07 PM EDT
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PrintWith the game on the line midway through the final period, a shorthanded breakaway by Jerred Smithson gave the Nashville Predators the winning goal in a 4-3 decision at Minnesota. For the Wild, it was their first loss on home ice.
The Preds had to overcome a second period collapse before rallying back to take charge of this game. After the jump, we've got video highlights and the statistical breakdown...
Once again, the early story had to do with the Preds' inability to hold a lead. After taking a 2-0 advantage (on goals by J.P. Dumont, and Shea Weber on the power play) into the 1st intermission, Nashville gave up 3 goals quickly at the beginning of the 2nd period. Dan Ellis was pulled and the Preds found themselves battling to get back into the game.
Fortunately enough, a 4-on-4 situation yielded Mike Santorelli's first career NHL goal; Joel Ward cut into the slot and fired off a shot, which deflected off Santorelli's skate as he camped out near the Minnesota net, and the game was tied at 3.
When Cody Franson headed into the penalty box for holding midway through the 3rd, things were starting to look dicey for Nashville. But a breakaway by Jerred Smithson on the PK, and a breathtaking toe-drag on his part, led to a shorthanded goal that put the Preds ahead 4-3 with just over 9 minutes left. Nashville managed to hold on despite a furious charge by Minnesota with the goalie pulled in the final seconds.
Steve Sullivan finished with 2 assists, Shea Weber ended with a goal and an assist, and somewhat surprisingly, Kevin Klein led all Predators with 24:05 of ice time. Pekka Rinne made all 12 saves in relief to pull out the victory.
As for the even-strength breakdown, it looked like this:
| Even Strength | Individual Totals | Team Totals While Player Is On Ice | ||||||||||
| Player | Pos | EV TOI | Shots | Shts Blkd | Missed Shts | Blocks | SOG For | SOG Ag | SOG +/- | Tot SF | Tot SA | Corsi |
| David Legwand | C | 19:05 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 17 | 16 | 1 |
| Jean-Pierre Dumont | R | 17:37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | -2 | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| Dave Scatchard | C | 12:37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 13 | 12 | 1 |
| Colin Wilson | C | 11:25 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| Patric Hornqvist | R | 12:07 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 4 |
| Steve Sullivan | L | 15:40 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 3 |
| Michael Santorelli | C | 13:00 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 |
| Martin Erat | R | 14:02 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 14 | 9 | 5 |
| Joel Ward | R | 15:03 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 12 | 9 | 3 |
| Marcel Goc | C | 10:18 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 8 | 12 | -4 |
| Wade Belak | R | 6:48 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Jerred Smithson | R | 10:33 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 10 | 12 | -2 |
| Shea Weber | D | 17:52 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 16 | 18 | -2 |
| Ryan Suter | D | 18:35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | -5 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Dan Hamhuis | D | 18:27 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 12 | 3 |
| Kevin Klein | D | 22:48 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 15 | 9 |
| Francis Bouillon | D | 19:24 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 14 | 6 |
| Cody Franson | D | 10:49 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
All in all, that's a pretty balanced effort; yes, the 4th line of Goc, Belak and Smithson got outshot at even strength, but that's not surprising, especially when on the road. A large number of shots that missed the net is part of why Suter & Weber's SOG totals don't look so good.
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by Aditya T (smashville) on Oct 28, 2009 11:15 PM EDT reply actions
My prediction held true...
Said it this morning…the team that won the third period would win the game…Smithson with the beautiful toe-drag around Burns and snapper past Backstrom for the SH GWG allowed the Preds to win the third and get the two points this evening…
Predators Hockey: Live it, Love it...
It's now time for Nashville to choose a #1
Pekka Rinne is that guy, not Ellis. Trotz has shown zero confidence in the kid which is partly to blame for his brutal start. But he has way more talent than Ellis and it’s about time the Preds pick a guy and stick with a guy. Continuing a two-goalie system will bury the Preds deeper than they are now.
How about letting one of them earn it first...
Rinne was the No. 1 throughout the summer heading into camp where he was horrid. Ellis came into camp and earned the starting job early. But like the team in front of them, the goalies thus far have both proved to be inconsistent.
Let Rinne start tomorrow night and see where you go from there. If Rinne is solid, then start him Saturday night and again evaluate from there.
You cannot afford to hand one goalie the starting reins with the level of inconsistency we’ve seen thus far out of our duo…
Predators Hockey: Live it, Love it...
At some point....
I wonder SLake, if they do need to make a decision at some point (not saying it’s now).
I don’t think bouncing back and forth is good for either goalie. It’s not allowing either to “play through” their difficulties.
Both goalies are UFA’s at the end of the season. We will probably only keep one. Therefore a decision needs to be made- and sooner rather than later.
Trotz is certainly in a difficult position, as the Predators margin of error is razor thin. That said, as long as the goalie isn’t the primary reason for multiple losses, I’d probably give one and extended run (say 10 straight games).
SLake you are closer to the team and staff than most due to your efforts in watching practices. Does the coaching staff think they know what they have in both? Do they believe one will eventually be better than the other?
At some point, given the amount of time and effort Korn has in with Rinne, and my belief that he has the higher ceiling, I think Rinne gets the first shot of this season for extended playing time.
I also think that picking a goalie would help the defense settle down too.
Thoughts?
by David Singleton on Oct 29, 2009 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions
Czar is totally right. It bugs me how the coaches put so much importance on the training camp performances of established roster players. It only lasts for around two weeks, which isn’t long enough to get a good read on who really deserves to play. Some very good players, for whatever reason, can have a bad two week stretch (Arnott was bad in camp, but he started the season just fine), just as other players can overachieve (Erat and Legwand had good camps). And it’s this over reliance on training camp that has led to our current problems in goal. I think camp should focus primarily on non-roster players and young prospects to get a read on how close they are to cracking the lineup.
we have zero consistency anywhere. shutout 3 times, revolving goalies and a defense thats like a seive at some point every game. we give multiple goals up in short periods of time every game. no focus
True.
However, from the highlights I saw the defense was much better last night. Those goals were mostly on Dan.
I think he’d tell you that too.
by David Singleton on Oct 29, 2009 8:43 AM EDT up reply actions
am i missing something....
I will admit I have not kept up with every game, but it seems every time I do read something we change goalies half way through the game. Maybe we should just do this on purpose and incorporate a 2 goalie system. i mean, are they putting something in the gatorade after the first intermission or something?
mostly sarcasm
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