Power Play: Preds blow another third period lead, lose in OT to Wild
Nashville, Tenn. -- In what appears to be a neverending slump, the Nashville Predators (43-21-8) saw another late third period lead collapse as the Minnesota Wild (39-24-7) tied the game at two with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation and ended it 22 seconds into overtime.
Strong jump out of the gate, but still ending up on the wrong side
The only thing the Predators didn't do in the first period was score a goal. Past that, you couldn't really ask for much else. Except for allowing the first goal in yet another game.
Nashville pressed the Wild deep into their zone for the majority of the first twenty minutes and rattled off 10 shots toward Minnesota goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Including two separate power play opportunities added into the mix, the Predators played up-tempo and heavy-hitting hockey out of the gate -- something that's been amiss as of late.
Unfortunately, Nashville found itself down by a goal at the end of the period thanks to a slight tip-in by Minnesota's Charlie Coyle. One thing that could possibly aggravate the Predators more than anything is seeing such a great performance in a period wiped away by a goal in the last minute.
"It's frustrating. That's part of the game. That's playoff-style hockey," said Predators forward Matt Cullen. "I think we did a good job of staying with it. We were down 1-0. We felt like we outplayed them in the first and deserved better. It's frustrating, but that's the way the game goes. They're a good team. They play solid [defense] and when they get an opportunity to go, they go."
Putting the pedal to the metal when the car won't start
Minnesota may be one of the most frustrating teams to play against in the entire league. Not because of how defensively sound they are -- which they have been since the All-Star Break -- but because of how they can put a team to sleep as soon as they take a lead.
That's exactly what the Wild did for the first 10 minutes of the second period, lulling Nashville into a daze that they appeared to have trouble escaping from.
"It's tight with them all the time," said Predators coach Peter Laviolette. "I think they give up maybe the fewest shots against in the league. There's just not a lot of room. They're getting good goaltending as well."
Unlike their previous three weeks of games, the Predators found a way to break out of Minnesota's spell of hypnosis. With under seven minutes remaining in the second period, Predators defenseman Roman Josi belted a one-time in front of Dubnyk to tie the game at one.
Nashville got its first lead of the game 45 seconds later when Josi scored again.
"That was the good part of the game for us," said Cullen. "We stuck with it and kept going. We were finally able to get a couple of opportunities there and Josi did a great job of putting them in. That's how the game is here down the stretch. Teams defend extremely hard. You need to be patient and confident in your game."
With the trouble the Predators have been having over the past few weeks, finding a way jump-start their engine after falling behind was absolutely critical.
Still having trouble finishing games
Nashville played 40 minutes of dominating hockey against the Wild; nearly a mirror image of its game against the Anaheim Ducks only two days prior.
Just like their game against the Ducks, the Predators took a lead into the third period. After mounting pressure from the opposing team, Nashville gave up the lead late in the third period and dropped the decision in overtime.
The finishing touch the Predators have had throughout the course of the season just hasn't been there during this seemingly unending stretch of poor hockey to close out a game.
"It's 100 percent on us right now," Cullen said. "We're not playing the way that we need to play to close out games. We go into the third with a lead and we're not at all playing the right way, and that's protecting pucks and being smart with pucks. Getting them in deep and making them come 200 feet. For some reason, we are not doing that right now and we better figure it out."
So far Nashville hasn't had much of an answer for teams that decide to throw the kitchen sink at them over the last twenty minutes of regulation.
Is it a concern? With only 10 games left in the regular season, it seems that the Predators have to re-discover how to hold onto a lead. A very crucial part of post-season success if they wish to have it.
"We need to get back to work," said Cullen as he mulled over the loss after the game. "We need to get our ducks in a row as far as finishing games out. We've done a pretty good job the last few games giving ourselves a good opportunity to win going into the third and we've let those slip. That's unacceptable."
Matt Dumba -- When he had the chance to finish Nashville, he took it. Dumba's overtime marker only 22 seconds into overtime gave the Wild two points in the standings and helped solidify their spot in the wild card race.
Roman Josi -- Two goals in 45 seconds? That could have been the two most important goals the Predators received in the last month. Josi's pair gave him 51 points on the year and has him only four points back of Filip Forsberg for the team lead.
Charlie Coyle -- Two goals for the Wild centerman, including the game-tying goal late in the third period, helped get Minnesota back on track towards downing the Predators in overtime.
