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Nashville Predators 5, New York Islanders 4 (OT): Josi Seals Come From Behind Win

Posted on by Rachel K

Who doesn’t like a Monday night hockey game? This one was sure exciting.

In the first period, Pekka Rinne saved the Predators’ bacon on three quick chances from Nathan Beauvilier and Jordan Eberle. However, Mattias Ekholm was guilty of interference, and the Islanders got the first power play of the evening. John Tavares capitalized on a chance right in front of Rinne from Josh Bailey and the Islanders took the first lead of the evening.

A few minutes later, Alexei Emelin and Jason Chimera were found guilty of a boarding penalty and a cross-checking penalty, respectively. Barely a few second later, Islanders captain Tavares was caught hooking Ryan Ellis, and the 4-on-4 game became 4-on-3. No joy.

Roman Josi was called for a slash on Matt Barzal, and the Predators were once again on the penalty kill. Once the penalty was killed, Kyle Turris chased down a loose puck and put a perfect pass on Kevin Fiala’s tape for the equalizing goal. What a beauty.

With about seven minutes left in the first, Kevin Fiala poked home a leaky puck for his second goal of the evening. 38 second later, Ryan Pulock evened up the score with a wrister from the blue line. With five minutes left in the period, Casey Cizikas was whistled for a delay of game call, putting the Predators on the power play.

Cizikas tallied on a bad bounce as soon as he left the box to put the Islanders up 3-2 at the end of the first period.

Ryan Johansen started the second period off with a high stick, and the Predators were once again on the penalty kill. Coach Laviolette was not happy. The kill was successful, and 5-on-5 play resumed.

A shot by Nick Leddy deflected by Rinne and the Islanders took a 4-2 lead with around 5 minutes gone in the second. This was followed by some incredible pressure by the Predators on Jaroslav Halak. An obviously frustrated Nashville team put plenty of pucks on net with no success.

Cizikas took another trip to the penalty box in the middle of the second. The Predators were unsuccessful with the man advantage. It seems like the Predators continue to shoot themselves in the foot in this game. Ekholm was again sent to the box for holding. Rinne held his ground and made several crucial stops to kill the penalty.

The third line held their ground in the Islanders’ zone and Nick Bonino and Calle Jarnkrok combined to put the puck behind Halak with around 3 minutes left in the second period. Islanders coach Doug Weight challenged for goaltender interference. After a quick review, the call on the ice would stand and New York lost their timeout. The second period closed with several more chances on net from the Predators. Halak was under pressure from all angles.

The third period began much like the second period ended. Plenty of chances for the Predators on Halak…they have to convert soon, right?

However, it seemed that the Predators couldn’t get any sustained pressure in the third. There were plenty of chances, and Rinne stood tall for Nashville. With Rinne on the bench, Johansen tallied a beautiful bar-down goal to tie the game with 38 seconds remaining. To overtime we go!

A silly amount of chances in the first minute of overtime raised the collective heart rate of anyone watching the game. A massive save by Pekka Rinne on Bailey… there are no words.

With about a minute left in overtime, Josi was able to recover the puck after a Rinne save, and he raced up ice with Bonino on his wing. A beautiful pass by Bonino went right off Josi’s stick into the net, sealing the OT victory for the Predators.

Random Observations

  • That goal by Bailey looked like bad communication between Colton Sissons and Emelin. Sigh.
  • Oh look, another penalty. Didn’t penalties kill us against the Islanders back in October? (hint: yes)
  • 4-on-4 hockey!
  • 4-on-3 hockey!
  • Subban just took around 322 slapshots in a row.
  • So. Many. Penalties.
  • FIALA! (Hi, Kevin!)
  • More Fiala! (not calling him FiFi)
  • More penalties!
  • Um, Pekka?
  • Slow-mo of Johansen’s penalty showed a little acting by Barzal, and no actual contact.
  • Did Yannick Weber just drive to the net?
  • Mid-second period looks like an angry Preds team.
  • Stop. Taking. Penalties. (clap clap clapclap clap)
  • The Islanders give up a ton of shots (30 so far) but yet the Preds are trailing.
  • Bonino! Jarnkrok! A challenge! The call on the ice stands, no timeout for NYI.
  • Ellis has ten shot attempts tonight…he’s due for a goal.
  • Congratulations to Nick Bonino on his 200th career point.
  • The Farm Bureau Insurance commercial got worse. -_-
  • A HUGE SAVE by Pekka Rinne.
  • ANOTHER BIG SAVE by Pekka Rinne on Barzal.
  • OH MY GAW JOEY.
  • Overtime makes me panic a bit.
  • Rinne improved as the game went on…perhaps he had a bad start?
  • Two huge chances by Viktor Arvidsson and Craig Smith. No joy.
  • GOAAAAAALLLLL! That was one heck of a pass from Bonino. /

Super Duper Stars of the Night

  1. Kevin Fiala: Two goals tonight for the young Swiss winger. He’s played with consistency and spark recently, and it’s showing on the scoresheet.
  2. Roman Josi: The Most Beautiful Captain put home the game-winner off a gorgeous pass from Bonino.
  3. Nick Bonino: With two assists tonight, Bonino was making things happen all over the ice, especially in the third period and in overtime. His cross-ice chip to Josi was beautiful. He tallied his 200th career point tonight, too.

Tweets of the Night

Game Video

Talking Points