Predators hold off a late flurry, down Avs 3-2

Courtesy of ESPN

Nashville got quite a scare in the last 6 minutes of the game as they saw their 3-0 lead dwindle by 2 goals and escaped Denver with a 3-2 win with some timely goaltending by Pekka Rinne

Special Teams:

Powerplay – 1 for 3, 33%
Powerplay For The Season – 38 for 248, 15.3%

Penalty Kill – 1 for 1, 100%
Penalty Kill For The Season – 41 for 261, 84.3%

Best Play of the Game: Pekka Rinne’s save with less than a second left in the game to stop the Avalanche from tying the game and giving the Predators a very important 2 points

Worst Play of the Game: All 5 players on the ice for Colorado’s second goal leaving Pekka Rinne out to dry as the Preds couldn’t get a hold of the puck and clear the zone from a pressing Avalanche team

Players (Good and Bad) of the Game:
The Good: Martin Erat – 1 goal, 1 assist, +1 rating, taking a 100mph Webershot to the leg, and came back and finished the game strong! Anyone who takes a Webershot to their leg and lives to tell the tale deserves this

The Bad: Joel Ward – YES YES I know, he was a trooper at points in the third taking a shot in the chest and produces some good changes, but for the most part Ward passed up shots, blew defensive coverage, and had a rough night

My Preds #1 Star: Pekka Rinne – Another night, another Pekka Rinne game where he kept the Preds in and got them 2 points. I still say without Rinne we would be as good as Colorado

Synopsis: The Preds squeaked out 2 points against Colorado, all thanks to a frantic 6 minutes in the third period. Nashville was outshot 15-3 in the third period, an eerily reminder of Tuesday’s game against Vancouver. This non-sense has to CEASE! You can’t win in the playoffs if you can only muster three shots in the third, that is how teams lose and almost how the Predators lost tonight.

But, Nashville got lucky and got two HUGE points. How huge, you say? Let’s take a peak

Nashville CANNOT be caught by Minnesota now
Nashville is now TWO points from being where Calgary CANNOT catch them
Nashville is FOUR, count ‘em FOUR, points behind Central Division leading Detroit
Nashville is FIVE, count ‘em FIVE, points behind a GUARANTEED playoff spot

Guaranteed playoff spot, yes, but that is most likely guaranteed to change by the end of the weekend to a smaller number. It’s amazing…a 10-3-2 March. What did I say readers?

MARCH IS GOOD!

LET’S CALL IT SMARCH!

And people laughed at me…HA! Who’s laughing now? We all are

Playoff Outlook: 94 points, Currently, 6th place/tied for 5th, 1 point out of 4th, 4 points out of 2nd

Best of 19 Record: 10-3-2

BEST OF SEVEN Record: 2-1-0

FINAL March Record: 10-3-2

What SportsClubStats Says?: 99 points gets the Predators a guaranteed playoff spot. We’re 5 points out with 8 total points remaining.

Thanks for reading!

~KM