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Nashville Predators 3, Calgary Flames 4: Preds Can’t Comeback This Time

Posted on by Alex Daugherty

The Predators lost in regulation for the first time in over two weeks, falling to the Flames 4-3 despite yet another late comeback.

With Kyle Turris out with an illness, the lines were a bit scrambled. Calle Jarnkrok took Turris’ seat on the 2nd line, and Pontus Aberg got the start on the 4th line.

There was a lot more energy and pace to Nashville’s game early on. Ryan Johansen put the Preds up 1-0 with a tap-in goal after a power play had expired. That goal capped off a nice 3-4 minute surge by the Predators, who tested goalie David Rittich frequently.

But the Flames would tie things up later in the period. Matthew Tkachuk redirected a shot in behind Rinne with less than a minute to play in the 1st.

The other bad news in the 1st period was Viktor Arvidsson having to leave the game after taking a slapshot in the leg. Thankfully he was only out for a little while and came back in the 2nd period.

Speaking of the 2nd period, the Preds started out with a four minute power play after Sean Monahan drew blood on a high stick. The Preds could barely gain the zone and didn’t come close to scoring. It was a very, very bad power play and it took a while for the Preds to regain their composure.

Following a frantic series in the neutral zone during some 4-on-4 play, Yannick Weber pounced on a rebound after an Arvidsson breakaway to put the Preds up 2-1. The Preds poured on some pressure once the crowd got loud, but then a pair of simultaneous penalties gave Calgary a 5-on-3 and they capitalized. Dougie Hamilton from the point.

With the score tied 2-2, the Preds let an early 3rd period power play go to waste. Then, with the “woos” raining down for who knows what reason, the Flames went ahead on a backdoor goal by Mark Jankwoski. #BanTheWoo

A little bit later in the 3rd, a bad luck goal struck. A shot by Curtis Lazar clanked off Josi’s stick and found the net. The Preds were down two goals with about nine minutes left in the game. Sound familiar?

On cue, with less than eight minutes left, Nick Bonino scored on a bounce in front to get the Preds within one. It was his first goal in 11 games and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Preds continued to pour on the offense and nearly tied late on the 6-on-4 power play, but the refs determined that a shot from Kevin Fiala didn’t cross the line. So the Flames edged the Preds 4-3 in the end.

It wasn’t a great performance from the Preds, which continues a recent trend. But the Preds still found a way to get some offense with Kyle Turris out and with the power play not doing anything at all.

Next up, Red Wings.

Random Observations

  • Early on the Preds look better than the first two periods against the Blues. Still doing too much passing and not enough shooting on undrafted goalie David Rittich.
  • Rinne looking dialed in once again.
  • Power play looked better, even if they didn’t get the goal officially.
  • Tkachuk just did get a stick on that. Dang. Tied up again.
  • The Preds had a glorious chance to go ahead on the four minute power play, but didn’t even really come close. It was so bad, they couldn’t even gain the zone.
  • Now they are trying to trudge through whatever much that awful power play put them in. Some bad hockey going on right now.
  • …Except for Rinne. He’s doing great out there. As usual.
  • Goal!!! Yannick Weber crashed the net after Arvidsson had a breakaway. What a goal.
  • Yber had just broken up a 2-on-1 by Gaudreau at the other end, too.
  • Lot of penalties in this one. And now the flim flams have a pee pee.
  • BARGH. They score. Tie game.
  • Arvidsson certainly doesn’t look permanently injured from that slapshot he took off his leg. He is flying around like crazy.
  • Sorry, I got distracted from an annoying Twitter conversation about trading Rinne. I’m back now.
  • Flames go up 3-2 on a nice backdoor play. Jankowski with the goal.
  • So we need yet another come back, huh? This is getting old.
  • Oh brother, now it’s 4-2. A really unlucky puck that went off Josi’s stick. Might be a sign this one’s over.
  • NOT YET! Bonino gets a bounce of his own and now it’s 4-3.
  • Crazy finish coming!
  • Yeah that puck didn’t cross the line. That would have been a stretch.
  • Dang, not a great performance. /

OTF’s Super Duper Stars of the Game

  1. Ryan Johansen: A goal and an assist tonight. His line was very good, even when Arvidsson left the game with an injury.
  2. Pekka Rinne: Should we start calling this section “Stars of the Game Not Name Rinne”? You know, just to give other guys a chance.
  3. Yannick Weber: Heyyy here’s a new name! He played well tonight in a losing effort.

Tweets of the Night

Game Extras

Talking Points