The last time these two these teams met, Pittsburgh shutout Nashville in their own arena. It was made even worse that my dad was visiting from DC that night. On the heels of another shutout in Denver (and with the St. Louis Blues drawing even in points earlier in the day) the Preds needed a win.
They got it, thanks to goals by Roman Josi, Gabriel Bourque, Eric Nystrom and Mike Fisher, as well as a spectacular shutout by Carter Hutton. The Penguins had no answer for anything the Preds threw at them, and got a little taste of their own medicine from October. James Neal ear-to-ear grin dot jpeg.
Random Observations
- First things first: Carter Hutton had a fantastic game. He needed it in the worst way. Against the Blues, he was spitting more rebounds to the ice than Mr. Bucket and in general did not have a good game. This afternoon, he was where he needed to be, made the saves he needed to make and, most importantly, had a several goal cushion to work with. He even got help from the posts a few times, which is a nice change from all the bouncing pucks and redirects he’s been seeing all season. Freeze that game in carbonite and hang it in your den, Carter the Hutt.
- It’ll also be a little funny/depressing if Pekka Rinne comes back on Tuesday, right after Hutton has a stellar game to get his confidence back up.
- Poor Beau Bennett. Scratched last game, injured and whistled for a penalty as he’s crawling off the ice this one.
- The third line did some fantastic work on Gabriel Bourque’s goal, but how about that carry in by Bourquechop? He blew through several Penguins defenders to get the puck deep, then was able to work his way right to the slot for the one-time past Fleury. Great on Matt Cullen for some great support on the forecheck.
- Eric Thore Nystrom cashed in on an opportunity at the end of the second period to put his team up 3-0. He faked Mac-Andre Fleury into next week. But credit Taylor Beck with an awesome takeaway on Crosby (!) to set up that chance. Just all around good play on that shift.
- FS-TN continued their Grade A broadcasting this afternoon. What’s more offensive: porn sounds on live TV or crediting Sidney Crosby with a goal when he took a penalty? You be the judge.
- You can hear the cash register sounds every time Mike Fisher gets on the ice.
- Filip Forsberg also retook the Preds’ lead in points. If he and Mike Ribeiro want to have a competition with it, I don’t think any of would mind.
OTF’s Super Duper Stars of the Game
- Carter Hutton: Because he deserved it.
- Eric Thore Nystrom: Because I like typing his last name.
- Gabriel Bourque: Dude was all over the ice today./
Come now, everyone. Do the Fish!
Boxscore – Game Summary – Event Summary – War-on-Ice – HockeyStats – Natural Stat Trick
Roll the video highlights…