Ohhhhh…mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go! The Preds win their 3rd straight, and 8th of last 9, with a 3-2 OT shootout win over the Hab-nots in Smashville last night.
It was more of a pensive affair than one might’ve expected due to the vastly different trajectories of both teams, with a nip and tuck pace throughout. The Men in Gold faced early adversity by brilliantly killing-off a 2 man disadvantage for 90 seconds in the first, but Montreal eventually took a lead about 12 minutes in.
As has been the case lately, the Good Guys finally got things rolling late in the opening frame via a power play of their own. Subban flew thru center ice down the left wing, deked a defender by slipping the puck between his own legs, then zipped an awesome back hand pass across to Joey on the right circle, who then quickly fed Scoresberg in the low slot, and he banged it home on his second attempt vs. the human target practice known as Antti Niemi.
It remained tied through the second frame, and in the third the drama began to build with each team trading volleys. One scrum in front of the Predators net resulted in Rinne shoving a feisty Canadien down to the ice, and a bit of a donnybrook ensued, with multiple players being banned to their respective sin bins as a result.
The Smash Cats finally took the lead on another P.P. tally, once again from Prince Filip via gritty work behind the net by Crazy Legs who gave him a smart feed in the low slot. That tied Forsberg for first in the NHL with 7 man-advantage goals this season.
The M.C. Sabre Cats had golden opportunities to salt the game away with a minute and a half left when the Can-o-beans pulled their goalie in favor on an extra attacker. But, the yawning cage was missed twice. Then, with just 56 seconds left, the Quebecers scored on a screened Pekka, and the game was knotted.
Neither the crowd nor the Preds were daunted, and a vivacious 5 minute overtime kept the Quarrytorium buzzing—with still no victor. So, it was on to the shootout, where recently acquired Kyle Turris paid dividends in one of the ways he is renowned–breakaway skill–and he wired a five hole decider past Anti-Winny. Pekks was up to the task as well, stoning all 3 Mountie efforts. This marked the third straight time that our boys have won when a game has gone to extras—a very positive turn of events after having so many disappointments in that realm over the past several seasons.
With the W, Nashville improves to 13-6-2, still in 3rd place in the Central, and third overall in the Western Conference. They head to up to St. Louieee to take on the division leading Blosers (whom they trail by 5 points) for the first time this year on Friday night. It should prove to be a real barn burner. Let’s go Preds!