Nashville Predators 0, Vancouver Canucks 1: Late Sedin Goal Tops Preds

The Predators winning streak came to an end in Vancouver when Henrik Sedin put home a rebound to give the Canucks a 1-0 win. It was a disappointing result for the Preds, but they fought well throughout the game. They had a goal disallowed because the ref did something he didn’t mean to do and otherwise played well enough to win.

The Canucks brought the energy in the 1st period, raining down some shots on Pekka Rinne early and often. He remained strong in net though, and the Preds managed to steer momentum back their way towards the end of the period. The real drama came when it looked as if Derek Grant scored his first career goal. The puck went in off his stick during a scrum in net, but then a review revealed that the ref “intended to blow his whistle” the whole time. Thanks for letting us know, dude! It was scoreless after 20 minutes.

The disallowed goal by Grant seemed to put a fire under the Preds in the 2nd period. They came out hitting folks. McLeod, Zolnieczyk, Fisher, Watson... most of the Preds looked intent on causing physical pain. Meanwhile, the Canucks were trying to score a goal. Pekka Rinne made sure that didn’t happen. He made 10 saves in the 2nd period, almost all of them dandies. Because of Rinne, it was still a scoreless game after two periods.

The 3rd period was tamer, but not by much. The Preds managed to get some good passing in the offensive zone, but still can’t get anything by Ryan Miller. The best chance came when Forsberg nearly fed a perfect pass to Arvidsson on the back door, but Miller managed to snag it under his pad. The death knell for the Preds came when Henrik Sedin whacked a bouncing puck out of the air and off of Rinne’s pads into the goal. It was a pretty lucky bounce, but that’s hockey. The Preds were unable to muster anything at the other end and the game ended a 1-0 loss.

Like I said, a disappointing loss, but the Preds played hard. They certainly played a more physical game than we are used to.

Random Observations

• Alex Carrier makes his NHL debut and he will be matched up with Anthony Bitetto. I can think of no better defensive partner to make one feel comfortable in the NHL than Anthony Bitetto. Not necessarily in terms of actual play, but in general friendliness and camaraderie.
• The Canucks look very much intent on not losing their 5th game in a row. The Preds will have their work cut out for them.
• Rinne is up to the task so far. Needs some offensive help.
• That power play by the Preds looked great, just couldn’t get anything by Miller.
• Derek Grant!!!
• Only wait, no goal. The ref said he meant the blow the whistle. Hey, well, you just let us know later on all the things you were planning to do in this game so we can correct the score sheet appropriately.
• That call by the ref, while it really, really sucks, is perfectly legal and in the rulebook. A ref can declare that he had intent to blow the whistle, even so far as to go back and disallow a goal. It seems insane. They should change it.
• Anways, back to the game and HOLY CRAP THE PREDS ARE TRYING TO KILL PEOPLE
• I’m counting 10 hits in this 2nd period alone. That’s crazy.
• Pekka. Freaking. Rinne. He has made at least 4 game saving saves in this 2nd period. The Canucks have missed a couple badly, but he has been there to stop the ones that would have gone in otherwise. Number 35, on his game.
• Oh, dang. Ref got pegged with the puck on a dump in. Hope he is ok, that looked painful.
• Holy crap, Arvy almost got a goal. Ryan Miller playing a heck of a game.
• Ugggggh. Sedin goal. What a bunch of baloney.
• This should be a tie game tbh
• But it’s not. Have to get over it.

OTF’s Super Duper Stars of the Game

1. Pekka Rinne: That goal he allowed was dumb. No chance Sedin does that again. Rinne played very well. 25 saves in this one.
2. Mike Fisher: Set the tone for the night and worked really hard to get guys chances.
3. Viktor Arvidsson, Austin Watson: Both of these guys were all over the ice. Hitting folks and shooting pucks.

Tweets of the Night

Game Extras

• Game Stats
• HockeyStats
• Natural Stat Trick