The Nashville Predators earned two big points in their campaign for 4th place in the West by taking a shootout decision over Minnesota, 2-1. Anders Lindback played a solid game, turning aside 25 shots for his second win in a row, and all three Wild skaters in the shootout, in which Alexander Radulov scored the only goal.
Follow after the jump for the video highlights & reaction...
Cue the video (might take 30-45 minutes post-game to work):
Your random observations:
- It sure seemed like blown one-timers were a constant theme tonight. Many times, both teams set up strong scoring chances only to have a stick break or the shooter just plain misfire on the shot.
- This started to take on the character of one of those low-scoring playoff battles, and in that sense made for a good test for the Preds. The Bourque goal came off a fine effort by Nick Spaling, poking the puck loose deep in the offensive zone and then dishing it into the slot for an easy score.
- One of my hockey pet peeves is how referees tend to call coincidental penalties rather than just a dive, and Jed Ortmeyer deserved a lone diving call midway through the third.
- It's refreshing to see a guy so hungry to score goals as Alex Radulov. In the waning moments of overtime, he was demonstrably calling for the puck, waving and banging his stick on the ice while the Nashville defense took their sweet time setting up behind the goal.
- ...and if you had any doubts about how Rads would be greeted by the fans at Bridgestone Arena, you should have heard the roar when he was announced as the second shooter in the shootout. It still amazes me how good his English is - just listen to his post-game interview with Willy Daunic...
- Alexander Radulov on 1025 2012-04-03 (mp3)
- Post-game audio is also available from Barry Trotz, Anders Lindback, Nick Spaling, and Shea Weber(click each name for the mp3)