The Nashville Predators put forth a strong effort tonight, out-shooting the hottest team in the NHL and killing off a lengthy 5-on-3 power play during the second period, but it wasn't enough as the Anaheim Ducks came back twice from one-goal deficits, then took the shootout tonight, 3-2. Ducks rookie goalie Viktor Fasth is now 8-0-0, having beaten the Predators twice now.
Taking this game to the shootout gave Nashville points in six of their seven home games so far, leaving them in 4th place in the Western Conference at 7-3-5.
After the game, Barry Trotz spoke about how goals from David Legwand and Shea Weber weren't quite enough to get the job done:
We had plenty of chances. We had close to thirty scoring chances tonight. We came out in the first period, had lots of good zone time. We were putting pucks in the blue paint, creating secondary chances second period - real huge penalty kill, 5'on'3. You could see the momentum change. Once we killed that penalty off, we scored right away. They obviously got a goal late from the young kid Maroon and then in the third period we had some chances and we weren't able to capitalize. I would say if there was any failure today it was more on the power play. I think at the start of the third and in overtime we weren't able to capitalize. The first goal we scored had a lot to do with our power play because we had the zone time and we scored about ten seconds after the penalty was over. When it gets to a shootout, anything could happen.
--- Quotes provided by Nashville Predators PR
The Preds host Detroit on Tuesday - find the best deals on tickets at TiqIQ!
Random Observations
- I took in tonight's game from Section 109, trying out the All-Inclusive Zone with Mrs. Forechecker. The food was great, the seats were excellent, but they could really use a little more counter space up in the bar/food area for folks to eat, as even the finest food doesn't taste good when you're jostling for elbow room. I would definitely go there again, though.
- All in all, it was an entertaining effort from the Preds tonight. Gabriel Bourque and Craig Smith drew penalties and created chances by challenging the Anaheim defense with their speed, and that lengthy 5-on-3 PP kill in the second period was an impressive bit of work. Notably, the PK unit stood strong again without Hal Gill, who was in the box for Delay of Game.
- It was a real pleasure meeting Jo Innes, Ryan Lambert, Sean Gentille and Jesse Spector, who made the trip to Smashville to check out the Preds and behold the glory of Teemu Selanne.
- Hats off to Patrick Maroon, who scored his first career goal to tie this up in the 2nd period for Anaheim, that's always a cool thing to see.
- >I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing Ryan Getzlaf lose his cool, like he did late in the 3rd period when the Ducks took a Too Many Men penalty.
- Sorry to keep this brief tonight folks, but I'm bushed!
Boxscore- Game Summary - Event Summary - Faceoff Report - Shot Report
Roll the video highlights...
And for your advanced stats:
Nashville Predators
| Player | Pos | ES TOI | Total Shots For | Total Shots Against | Corsi | Net Zone Starts | Adjusted Corsi |
| Martin Erat | R | 18:02 | 19 | 12 | +7 | +3 | +6 |
| Colin Wilson | C | 16:14 | 18 | 9 | +9 | +4 | +7 |
| Sergei Kostitsyn | L | 15:58 | 14 | 14 | 0 | +1 | -0 |
| David Legwand | C | 15:45 | 20 | 7 | +13 | +2 | +12 |
| Gabriel Bourque | L | 14:28 | 12 | 15 | -3 | +2 | -4 |
| Nick Spaling | C | 14:20 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Smith | C | 14:04 | 13 | 12 | +1 | -1 | +1 |
| Mike Fisher | C | 13:41 | 6 | 14 | -8 | +2 | -9 |
| Matt Halischuk | R | 13:12 | 11 | 13 | -2 | +1 | -2 |
| Paul Gaustad | C | 12:41 | 12 | 15 | -3 | -4 | -1 |
| Rich Clune | L | 7:07 | 8 | 5 | +3 | -1 | +3 |
| Shea Weber | D | 18:44 | 15 | 22 | -7 | +1 | -7 |
| Roman Josi | D | 17:23 | 18 | 17 | +1 | +2 | +0 |
| Scott Hannan | D | 17:10 | 13 | 15 | -2 | -2 | -1 |
| Kevin Klein | D | 16:29 | 15 | 18 | -3 | -2 | -2 |
| Jonathon Blum | D | 14:19 | 6 | 11 | -5 | +2 | -6 |
| Ryan Ellis | D | 11:54 | 19 | 6 | +13 | +3 | +12 |
| Hal Gill | D | 9:31 | 10 | 3 | +7 | +2 | +6 |
Anaheim Ducks
| Player | Pos | ES TOI | Total Shots For | Total Shots Against | Corsi | Net Zone Starts | Adjusted Corsi |
| Corey Perry | R | 17:18 | 21 | 10 | +11 | 0 | +11 |
| Ryan Getzlaf | C | 16:28 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 0 | +7 |
| Bobby Ryan | R | 16:15 | 15 | 16 | -1 | +1 | -1 |
| Nick Bonino | C | 14:12 | 10 | 15 | -5 | +1 | -5 |
| Matt Beleskey | L | 14:01 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 0 | +8 |
| Teemu Selanne | R | 13:21 | 10 | 13 | -3 | -2 | -2 |
| Daniel Winnik | C | 12:40 | 7 | 10 | -3 | -3 | -2 |
| Saku Koivu | C | 12:05 | 6 | 9 | -3 | -3 | -2 |
| Andrew Cogliano | C | 11:25 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 0 | -1 |
| Peter Holland | C | 10:16 | 10 | 14 | -4 | -1 | -4 |
| Kyle Palmieri | C | 8:30 | 4 | 14 | -10 | -1 | -10 |
| Patrick Maroon | L | 8:22 | 5 | 11 | -6 | -1 | -6 |
| Bryan Allen | D | 18:50 | 19 | 17 | +2 | -1 | +2 |
| Francois Beauchemin | D | 18:34 | 20 | 14 | +6 | -1 | +6 |
| Ben Lovejoy | D | 17:54 | 17 | 17 | 0 | -1 | +0 |
| Luca Sbisa | D | 17:15 | 9 | 18 | -9 | -1 | -9 |
| Sheldon Souray | D | 17:10 | 18 | 16 | +2 | -1 | +2 |
| Toni Lydman | D | 16:26 | 9 | 18 | -9 | -1 | -9 |
