Sharp-dressed Preds lose to St. Louis 3-1, win streak snapped at 7

by Dirk Hoag on Nov 27, 2009 11:14 PM EST

Despite the excitement of playing in their new 3rd jerseys for the first time, the Nashville Predators offense ran dry against the St. Louis Blues tonight in a 3-1 loss. Former Pred Chris Mason was the difference-maker in goal for the Blues, as he stopped 37 of 38 Nashville shots.

Follow after the jump for the recap and video highlights...

The combination of strong goaltending by Mason, with the lack of finishing ability by the Nashville shooters combined to hold the Preds offense in check tonight. As noted in the preview, St. Louis boasts the best save percentage in 5-on-5 hockey in the NHL right now, while Nashville has the coldest shooters in 5-on-5, so it was no surprise to see Mason turn aside 29 of 30 even-strength shots tonight.

The game was typically tight and intense until the final moments; St. Louis didn't get the initial score until 1:25 left in the second period, when Brad Boyes lifted a shot that deflected off Pekka Rinne into the Nashville net, catching Rinne leaning a little bit off the short-side post. Fans at the game were frustrated to see a couple of pucks end up in the Blues net, but only after a whistle had blown to stop play; neither was even close to being in the "intent to blow" zone of uncertainty.

While Dave Scatchard scored his first goal as a Predator to bring Nashville within 2-1 (as he stormed the net and knocked the puck in as Mason was trying to glove it), he didn't have time to celebrate, as Blues defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo prompted a fight immediately after the score. It took St. Louis just under two minutes to answer back on the scoreboard - former Pred Paul Kariya was left wide open in front of the net wire he fired a centering pass by Rinne for the two-goal lead that iced the game.

The Predators get right back into action tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers and another former goaltender, Tomas Vokoun. They will also wear the new 3rd jerseys in that game.

For discounted tickets to any Nashville Predators home game, you can follow this link and use the special offer code "PREDS".

Poll

Who is your Predator of the Game?

Patric Hornqvist, 5 shots in 8:09 TOI

2 votes

David Legwand, 6 shots in 19:44 TOI

1 votes

Pekka Rinne, 35 saves

10 votes

Dave Scatchard, 1st goal as a Predator

10 votes

23 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Goals dried up

Were there just not a lot of power play opportunities? St. Louis typically isn’t that disciplined, but the Preds have been so efficient on the pp that I would have expected more goals. What’s the missing piece that will boost the Preds’ 5-on-5 scoring?

by WestSideDrew on Nov 27, 2009 11:47 PM EST reply actions

Uh..is there something to the Kovalchuck rumor?

Both Atlanta asso ciate general mana ger Rick Dud ley and direc tor of pla yer per son nel Mark Dob son were in the buil ding on Friday.

from Glennon

"We really feel like we can go 10-0 in these last ten games...we’re trying to do something nobody has ever done." Chris Johnson
"This is the only building in the NHL that the fans get up and cheer for no apparent reason just to support us." - Dan Ellis

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by Aditya T (smashville) on Nov 28, 2009 3:08 AM EST reply actions

The Kovalchuk rumor Eklund floated is a ridiculous one for so many reasons:

1) This team isn’t going to shell out big $$$ to bring in a star like that until they can afford it, i.e. season tickets & sponsorships at a higher level than they are now.

2) Ek wrote something like the Preds would do it because it would help with attendance. Have you seen Atlanta’s attendance? It’s not like he’s packing them in down there.

3) All of our big $$$ players are tied up under no-trade clauses, so there’s no room to deal significant salary back in any deal.

4) As for taking the financial gamble on such a deal, I’m guessing David Freeman would rather pay the IRS the $3.3 million he owes them than $6 million+ to a flighty Russian winger.

There could be a zillion other potential deals in the works, and those guys could have been there to scout the Blues as well. It really honks me off when Ek throws utter garbage out there like this just to generate false hope and clicks for his website. It’s truly vile.

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Nov 28, 2009 8:32 AM EST up reply actions