Predators prey on Penguins...Loss

The photo is misleading. The game fell apart.

I missed the first half hour. I checked out the NHL boxscore and I didn’t miss any goals or penalties. Boxscore did tell me, however, that the Preds have 5 shots on goal whereas the Pens have ZERO. With about 13 minutes left in the first, MAF makes a great save. Satan gets called for tripping. Predators are on the PP. Flower, Staalsy and Jeffery play a great penalty kill shift. Penalty killed. Finally, the Pens first shot…by Boucher…Eaton is playing well. Staalsy made a great shot and then Sykie shot a one-timer off a great pass from Sid …GOAL! Orpik takes down Santorelli. Flower makes a sweet save on Tootoo. I was having some cable issues but as far as I could tell, nothing exciting happened. Flower made some good saves and everyone played well in general. At least we got the crucial first goal.

Maxie took a great hit on a Predator (Legwand?) and looked pretty proud of himself on the bench. Preds make a nice rush but Flower makes a better save. Some solid chances for both teams and then the new top line strikes. TK passes to Staalsy who slaps a great goal off the Nashville defense. As a result, the Predators change their goalie. Rinne is in net now for Nashville. Cookie leads it in and takes a shot/passes to Mad Max Talbot and Maxie stuffs it in! Maxie’s first goal in 25 games. Fleury loses sight of the puck and Martin Erat is able to get it past him. Jordin Tootoo is called for goalie interference; Pens do not capitalize on their advantage. Shea Weber’s hell of a slapper is blocked by Flower. Satan frustrates every Pens fan as he walks right around an empty net without taking any shots. “C’mon, Miroslav, shoot the puck!”, says Steigy. The Pens Nation wholeheartedly agrees. Off the faceoff, Antti Pihlstrom is called for hooking Satan. Shorthanded effort for the Preds; Legwand puts it in. Preds have gained confidence from the shorthanded goal and begin pounding away at Flower. Pens are still up by one but the momentum needs to go back in their favor. Mark Eaton is called for hooking. Preds on the PP. Preds got another goal via Smithson. Soon after that, Flower made a fantastic save by sticking out his left pad just enough to knock the puck away. Um…what happened to the three goal lead? Blown.

Geno takes a great slapper which hits Rinne in the face as he blocks it. He checks his mask before play resumes. Rinne makes a sweet glove save. Predators make a hand pass and the faceoff moves to their zone. Gogo hits one square at the net but Rinne makes another glove save. Flower makes another nice save. Rinne robs Boucher of a great goal. This period so far has been just sad. Scuderi gets called for interference. PPG for Nashville by Ryan Suter. The Predators have come from behind by 3 to ahead by one. This cannot be happening. Staalsy sends a nice one to TK who was taken down. Jason Arnott is called for slashing TK. Pens on the PP. Tanger takes a shot but it’s blocked. No PPG. This is brutal. Therrien does NOT look happy. Satan fumbles the puck on a nice pass from Cookie Monster. That guy has been wasting money on our salary cap since mid-November. Two minutes left to play. Tanger takes a shot, Sykie and Geno whack at it. Pile up in front of the net. The defense blocks the Penguins chance for a goal on a wide-open net. Fleury out. Empty netter. 24 seconds to go. Vomit.