Nashville Predators 2, Detroit Red Wings 0: Marek Mazanec Earns 1st NHL Shutout

The Nashville Predators stuck it to their old rivals tonight, sending the Detroit Red Wings to their 7th consecutive loss overall, and 8th straight at Joe Louis Arena. In an often snoozy, low-event game, the Preds (now 10-9-2) took a lead late in the second period on a Shea Weber goal, which Gabriel Bourque extended midway through the third with his 3rd goal of the season.

Shea Weber moved past Kimmo Timonen for Nashville's all-time scoring lead by a defenseman with his goal, a slapper from the blueline that found its way through heavy traffic to beat Jimmy Howard. It took Timonen 573 games to rack up 301, while tonight was Weber's 549th.

Marek Mazanec put in a second consecutive strong game, stopping 27 Detroit shots to earn his first career NHL shutout.

Random Observations

• It was nice to see the Preds take advantage of an uncharacteristically penalty-prone Detroit squad tonight. Lots of hooks, holds, and high-sticks gave Nashville plenty of chances to blow the game wide open.
• One of those penalties was, naturally, drawn by Patric Hornqvist driving to the net. He created havoc in front of the crease on Weber's goal, and had another strong all-around game.
• Seth Jones got his introduction to Pavel Datsyuk tonight, as the Red Wings center put an absolutely magical move on Jones along the boards to escape with the puck. It happens, kid.
• Detroit's young defenseman Danny Dekeyser suffered a separated shoulder in the first period and didn't return. I didn't see the play on which it happened... anybody got some insight?
• The sparse crowd at Joe Louis Arena was just a sad sight. When I left Michigan in the 90's that place was jam-packed every night.
• Hey, maybe Mazanec was motivated by the speculation about Nashville's need for goaltending help? Whatever works, keep it up, rookie.

Boxscore - Game Summary - Event Summary - Fancy Stats

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