Nashville Predators vs Buffalo Sabres Rewind

Final: Nashville 4 - Buffalo 1

This game was all Nashville from the get go.  The Predators played with a lot of energy coming off of an overtime victory in a game they should've won walking away.  The team played much more deliberately in the third period as they protected a two goal advantage before Gaustad sealed the deal with an empty net goal.  Nick Spaling kept up his scoring after his return from a minor injury.  Craig Smith tallied his team-leading 20th goal, the first Predator to do so in 2 seasons since Hornqvist and Fisher both did it in the 2011-12 season.  Shea Weber rounds out the Predators scorers and now trails Karlsson by 1 goal as the highest scoring defenseman, a statistic that helped Karlsson trump Weber for the Norris trophy two years ago.  The Predators have scored 4 goals now in each of their last 2 contests, perhaps this is a sign of things to come.

Just when I started to doubt him Colin Wilson has proven me right and shown that he is indeed capable of anchoring the Predators at the Center position.  He had two assists last night following his point in the Ottawa game on Monday.  His passing is crisp, he is calm and deliberate with the puck, his positioning has few holes, and he is physical in the neutral zone.  Also impressive was his 61.5% wins in the faceoff circle taking some of the defensive zone pressure off of Gaustad.  These past two games have been glimpses at his potential and I am reaffirming my position that Wilson, along with Smith, will eventually become a star on this Predators team.

Weekend Rewind

Going into last night's contest with the Ottawa Senators Pekka Rinne had played phenomenally since his return.  If you had told me ahead of last night's game that Rinne would have a gaa of 2.02 and a save percentage of .922, I would have thought we had won at least 2 of the 3.  To put up those kinds of numbers in the first three games back from a bacterial infection that cost him 51 games this season is impressive enough, that two of those games were against St. Louis and Pittsburgh makes it even more of an accomplishment.  While those numbers are a testament to the work on the defensive end that the Predators are putting in, a quick review of the film shows that Rinne is literally spinning on his head to keep the puck out of the net.  Unfortunately, the Predators' offense remains anemic and instead those 3 games have resulted in 3 losses, all but eliminating Nashville from the playoffs.  That didn't change their intensity going into the game with Ottawa last night as the Predators pulled out a win in overtime.

The offense came alive in the second period putting pucks past Anderson, surprisingly enough it came on even strength opportunities.  In the third period the Predators got sloppy and allowed the Senators to tie up the contest on three goals that showed a lack of interest and positioning.  Overtime was a different story as Nashville closed down space in the neutral zone and possessed the puck with more authority.  Following a bit of skillful poke-checking the Predators came down on the break and the puck was dropped off to a trailing Seth Jones.  The rookie found a lane to the net and lit the horn for a game winner for the first time in the last 5 games.  The Predators are playing for pride at this point, and losing for a draft pick.  The remainder of the season will show how much forward thinking is being put into the lineup.