The Flyers were in town to finish off the second game of the Predators’ fourth back-to-back this season. After an ugly loss to the Devils Saturday, the Preds hoped a quick turn around would do some good.

For the second straight game, it was a relatively uneventful first period. The Flyers had the Preds on their heels early, as much of the first five minutes were spent in the Nashville zone. Kevin Fiala got called for a questionable hooking penalty and the Flyers capitalized on the power play to take a 1-0 lead.

The Preds got a little more pressure in the Flyers end to start the second period. Ekholm fires a shot toward Steve Mason and Jarnkrok redirects it in and we’re tied 1-1. The Flyers take advantage of another power play and Wayne Simmonds does the damage again and its 2-1 Philadelphia. After not giving up any power play goals in the first 10 home games, the Preds have given up three so far through a game and two periods.

Colin Wilson wakes up the crowd in the third period with a spectacular play, going top shelf on a breakaway to beat Steve Mason and tie the game back up 2-2. The Preds can’t seem to get out of their own end and Michael Raffl makes them pay, making Mattias Ekholm look foolish in the process, and it’s now a Flyers a 3-2 lead.

The third period saw some back-and-forth action. The Preds began showing their frustration with some big hits and some chippy plays. Mike Ribeiro even threw a hit on someone, if that tells you anything. Philadelphia tacks on the empty netter and this one is over.

Not the way anyone at Bridgestone wanted to see Star Wars night end...

Random Observations

• Juuse Saros makes some saves that I don’t even think Rinne can make
• What do Flyers fans have against P.K.? They boo him every time he touches the puck
• That was a bad call against Fiala. What should we expect though with Tim Peel out there?
• The Preds looked off their game in that first period. This has been somewhat of a trend - slow start, play catch up, get close, and lose a heart breaker at the end
• Jarnkrok will get credit for that goal, but Ekholm set it up with that laser shot to the net
• Another power play, another goal for the Flyers. Leaving Simmonds alone in front of the net is not the best of ideas...
• Playoff Colin Wilson decides to make a rare regular season appearance
• Ryan Johansen has laid a couple big hits today
• Raffl just made Ekholm look silly on that goal. He was out of position and then fell to the ice and left Saros out to dry there.
• Saros has actually played fairly well, the defense is not helping him out at all today. They have these spurts where the defense just leaves the goalie out to dry and the team struggles and then there’s times where the defense is on lock down. They really need some consistency.
• Why can’t this team score right now? They are getting chances, they are getting off shots, and they are getting players in front of the net.
• And there is the empty netter. Another disappointing game by the Preds after such a promising November

OTF’s Super Duper Stars of the Game

1. Colin Wilson - My-oh-my, Mr. Wilson. He needs to play more like that. Not only did he make that breakaway happen, but he finished it off and dazzled with that top shelf goal. He can do it in the playoffs; if only he could just make it happen in games 1-82.
2. Calle Jarnkrok - He got the Preds on the board first and injected a little energy into the crowd and a team who seemed a little downtrodden after giving up that first goal.
3. Austin Watson - Watson did have an assist on the night. But, what I was most impressed with was his physicality. Watson laid a few big hits and had the crowd on their feet a couple of times.

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