It’s Never Easy, but the Predators Win

A big lead. Play tough defense and shut down the other team, right? In what is becoming an annoying hallmark of the Nashville Predators, a big lead evaporates and they find themselves scrambling to get back in the game. Ahead 2-0  at the end of the first period last night against Minnesota on goals by J. P. Dumont and Shea Weber, the Predators found themselves down 3-2 early in the second as the Wild scored three goals on three shots in 1:47.

This barrage chased starting goal tender Dan Ellis out of the net in favor of Pekka Rinne, who came off the bench and shut down the Wild for the remainder of the game. Mike Santorelli tied the game late in the second period with a tip off Joel Ward’s shot that got past Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom. This was Santorelli’s first NHL goal and it sent the Predators into the locker room at intermission with some momentum.

The Predators opened the third period by getting out shot 4-0 when they went on the penalty kill. Jerred Smithson stole the puck from the Wild’s Mark Zidlicky at the center red line, put a beautiful toe drag move on Brent Burns, and fired a wrister past a surprised Backstrom for the game winner. Another heart stopping game in the books for Predator fans.

Some positive signs are starting to emerge from the Predators. J.P. Dumont is starting to heat up, and his scoring is desperately needed. Dumont now has 8 points (3G-5A) in 7 games. Steve Sullivan picked up two assists; Shea Weber notched his fourth goal; and Jerred Smithson recorded his second goal and first game winner. The top forwards have to score for this team and third and fourth line players have to chip in with timely scoring. There are signs of life in both areas. The Predators are 3-3-1 on the road in this young season, and this team has to play well on the road to have a chance at success. This is especially true early in the season with the schedule weighted toward a number of road games.

As mentioned, the disturbing trend is not locking down a team after getting a lead. This happened in Ottawa last week as the Predators blew a three goal lead before winning in overtime and in Boston as the team twice squandered one goal leads to lose 3-2. The killer instinct is lacking right now, and this team has to develope it quickly. Leads are hard to come by for the Predators, and they certainly do not need to squander them.

Baby steps. This team is taking them, starting to get offensive production and gain confidence. The lessons of blown leads must be learned and the progression to really playing Predaator hockey has to continue. It’s not easy, but then again, no good things are.