Nashville Predators 3, Arizona Coyotes 1: Rinne Solid, Ellis Tallies 2
The Preds kicked off their three-game home stand in style
The Predators beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 tonight behind a couple goals from Ryan Ellis and a nice 25 save performance from Pekka Rinne for his 28th win of the year.
The first period was a snooze-fest. All you need to know is that there were a combined 9 shots on goal in 20 minutes. Luke Schenn knocked Mike Fisher into the boards at the end of the period, causing a ruckus.
The second period was more eventful. Cody McLeod took exception to Schenn’s actions, and he made the Coyotes’ blue-liner know about it. A few timely placed fists and Schenn was holding on for dear life. Viktor Arvidsson decided he would not stand for a scoreless game any longer and put the Preds up 1-0 for his 27th goal of the season. Craig Smith did have a breakaway chance, but in typical Craig Smith fashion he aired the puck completely off net and Mike Smith must have been laughing in his goalie mask. Smith would get a tiny bit of redemption later on, feeding Ryan Ellis to give the Preds a 2-0 lead.
The Coyotes looked a little lethargic after McLeod drubbed Luke Schenn in the second period. In other news, the Craig Smith-to-Ryan Ellis combo might be something. Ellis has his second goal of the night off of Smith’s second assist - the Preds with a 3-0 lead. Smith might not be scoring goals, but assists lead to points, right? Nashville gets called for a penalty, and in “I told you so” fashion Arizona ends the shutout on a goal from Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Late in the game Rinne had a long attempt at an empty net goal, but couldn’t get it to go. Regardless, the Preds held on for a convincing 3-1 win and two huge points in the standings.
Random Observations
- Western Kentucky’s mascot is creepy
- *Yawn
- Four shots on goal for the boys in gold. In 20 minutes. That’s an average of one shot per five minutes for those of you keeping score at home
- Cody McLeod drops the gloves, then drops Luke Schenn. Payback for that hit on Fisher at the end of the first period
- Arvi! Arvi! Arvi!
- Craig Smith misses on a breakaway. In other news, the sky is blue and Juuse Saros is still exempt from the expansion draft
- There were 9 combined shots on goal in the first period. At the end of the second period there are 38 combined
- Ryan Ellis with a BOMB. He’s like a 5-foot-10 version of Shea Weber, with you know, less offense
- Smitty with two assists tonight; he’s snake-bitten when it comes to goals, so when all else fails just pass to Ryan Ellis/
OFT’s Super Duper Stars of the Game
- Ryan Ellis - Ellis has been dynamite this year. He has arguably been the Preds best defenseman and set a new career-high in both goals (14) and points (34).
- Pekka Rinne - he had a shutout for about 56 minutes. But, he still saved 25 shots and made some difficult saves in there too. This is the Pekka the Preds will need come playoff time.
- Craig Smith - that miss on the breakaway was bad. But collecting two assists somewhat makes up for it. It’s his first multi-point game since Jan. 26 against Columbus.
Tweets of the Night
😁 😲 #ARIvsNSH pic.twitter.com/QehHRKrBaY
— NHL (@NHL) March 21, 2017
Fisher just got run over by Schenn.
— On The Forecheck (@OnTheForecheck) March 21, 2017
Fisher gets up smiling.
Fisher writes "Luke Schenn" on a notepad.
Oh man, Cody. #Preds #ARIvsNSH pic.twitter.com/ZGb4Q4BLuX
— Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) March 21, 2017
In case you were wondering, Viktor Arvidsson has 12 more goals and 27 more points for the #Preds than Jimmy Vesey does for #NYR this season
— Michael Gallagher (@mpatrickg5) March 21, 2017