Patric Hornqvist, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Colin Wilson, and Sergei Kostitsyn all have multiple points in Nashville's 5-2 win over the LA Kings, and there wasn't a single empty net goal to be found. Anders Lindback stopped 24 of 26 for .923, and Merek Svatos scored his first goal as a Nashville Predator. It was a GREAT night to be in LA.
The Predators knew that the first ten minutes was going to be key, and the first shift proved that they were ready. Getting physical early is exactly what the Preds wanted to do, and that they did. When looking at the boxscore, one would might assume that the first period was boring and event less. I promise it was not. With several hard working shifts, the final seconds ran out in the first period with David Legwand ringing one off the iron, and then a jam in front of the Nashville net. Remembering what happened in December when these teams met in Nashville, I knew that the Predators had the willpower to win.
The second period gave Nashville fans a sick feeling in their stomach, as Anze Kopitar's line opened up. Kyle Clifford (from Marco Strum and Anze Kopitar) started a crazy second period at 02:16 to put the Kings up 1-0. I sank in my seat a bit, but didn't panic. Francis Bouillon was called for an interference penalty at 06:13, and Jarrett Stoll (from Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar) made it 2-0 after he slapped one past Anders Lindback on the power play at 07:57. I hurt at that point, assuming that what little momentum the Predators had, had now been totally absorbed by the Kings. Little did I know that the Predators would score five straight, starting with Colin Wilson (from Suter and Kostitsyn) on the power play just one minute after the last Kings goal at 08:57. Just over a minute later, Marek Svatos would score his first goal as a Predator (from Wilson and Weber) at 10:19 to tie the game. Not only was I excited that the game was tied, honestly I was even more excited that Svatos had found a way to get one past Jonathan Beriner, who started in goal for the Kings due to his previous success against the Predators. Matt Greene's interference penalty put the Predators on the power play, and Patric Hornqvist (from Wilson and Suter) scored at 14:28 to make it a 3-2 game. I was very impressed with Colin Wilson in this period due to his shots. He was able to force rebounds that lead to two goals, and was able to score one himself. I tip my hat to you sir.
Third period motivation put the Predators up 5-2, starting with Sergei Kostitsyn (from Klein and O'Brien) at 09:10, and ending with Patric Hornqvist (from Weber and Kostitsyn) at 15:33. When the fifth straight goal was scored, the Kings fans lost hope.
In front of 17, 823 at the Staples Center, the Nashville Predators finally showed the Kings that they weren't going to take being pushed around. Nashville received a much needed two points with the regulation win, which gives us 4th place in the west with a total of 48. The Kings will stay at 45 points and they will have 11th place. Notice the log jam with only a three point difference (this has been going on for weeks, but I still like to point it out). The three stars for tonight's game are Colin Wilson, Shea Weber, And Anze Kopitar. In my opinion, all three are very well deserved. Nashville will take on San Jose on Saturday, with a 7:00PM Central Time puck drop.
Since we have a new year, it is time for me to start watching what the other teams are doing around the league. Sometimes the Predators can get some help in the standings from the others, and I'll pass along a few games to keep up with. On Friday, the NHL will have 7 games going, and most of them will affect Nashville in some way. First of all, the New York Rangers will take on the Dallas Stars. Since these two are from different conferences, Nashville fans will be rooting for NY to keep points out of the West. Chicago will take on Ottawa with the same East/West issue. Root for Ottawa. Calgary takes on Detroit tomorrow as well. Detroit (55) has more points than Nashville; Calgary (39) has less. Root for Calgary. Vancouver (57) takes on Edmonton (33). An Edmonton win may give the Preds some help down the road. Last but not least, Anaheim takes on Columbus. The points spread in this game is so close that I really don't think that it will matter. For the Western Conference games, we always pray that they do not go into overtime. No matter who wins and loses, three points are now issued out to the conference instead of two. And of course Eastern vs Eastern games are not listed because they have no affect on the Predators.
I am very pleased with tonight's performance, and I truly hope that the Predators play a full 60 minutes against San Jose on Saturday to pick up another two. A road sweep would be pretty darn cool.
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