Power Play: Weber's short-handed goal lifts Predators to win over Blues
Nashville, Tenn. -- In another tightly contested game between two Central Division heavyweights, the Nashville Predators (24-9-3) defeated the St. Louis Blues (22-12-3) 3-2 after Shea Weber's short-handed goal broke a tie midway through the third.
End of back-to-back equals slow starts for both teams
With both Nashville and St. Louis playing the night before, there should be some level of fatigue expected coming into the tail end of a back-to-back. Not until near the end of the first period, though, did it feel like both teams were finally getting into some type of groove.
"We were just trying to work our way into the game," said Predators rookie forward Filip Forsberg. "We kind of had a slow start. We were lucky we could pick it up in the second half of the first period. I think we got going and kept playing like that the rest of the game."
The Predators and Blues exchanged ineffective power plays before seeing Nashville make a push late to try and ignite some type of offensive pressure.
Although Nashville doubled its shots in the final five minutes of the period and scored the opening goal courtesy of defenseman Shea Weber, the record crowd of 17,401 didn't have much to get excited about early in the contest.
"It seemed the first period was our slowest period," Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. "Even though they scored a couple of goals, we really hit the gas pedal after that in the second half of the game."
Waived off goals don't seem to phase Nashville
For the second time this season, the Predators appeared to be the victim of another reviewable scoring play that didn't fall in Nashville's favor.
With less than five minutes to play in the second, Forsberg had a shot flutter off Blues goaltender Brian Elliott and slowly drift behind the netminder and into the net before being scooped up into Elliott's glove. Initially waved off by referee Dan O'Rourke, the play endured a lengthy review with plenty of replays to show that Nashville possibly had enough evidence to argue the puck crossed the red line.
Unfortunately for the Predators, it wasn't enough for the NHL and Forsberg wasn't awarded the tying goal for Nashville.
"It's hard for me to see right as it happens," Forsberg said. "Just from the Jumbotron, I want to say it's in, for sure. With all of the camera angles there is in this league, they should have seen it better too. It's obviously really hard for me to tell. I haven't seen more than one screen on the jumbotron. From those pictures, I thought it was clear."
Seconds later, though, forward Gabriel Bourque tied the game. What could've been a very frustrating point in the game for Nashville was instantly turned into a moot point.
"Filip's shot looked like it was in, from the replay we saw," Predators forward Olli Jokinen said. "It was a good faceoff win from Paul [Gaustad]. Bourque went to the net. It was a good thing we were able to answer it right back.
Tight games between two tight defensive teams
Four games between the Blues and Predators this season have all been decided by one goal. That includes Tuesday's game. Having only one more matchup between the two teams left this season, it seems reasonable to go ahead and predict that game will be decided by one goal as well.
"It's two really good hockey teams," said Forsberg. "They play really hard. We played really hard too. That's how it's going to be. It feels like a playoff game every time we play these guys."
It shouldn't be a surprise, either. Nashville and St. Louis are both in the top 10 for goals against per game in the NHL. With both scratching and clawing to keep pace in the Central Division race, neither can afford to give up many goals if they want to catch up with the Blackhawks.
"I think our guys know what's at stake," Laviolette said. "You play Chicago, you play St. Louis, you play Minnesota, you know these are the teams you have to work to stay ahead of in the standings. They're all good hockey teams. Even Winnipeg. Right now, they're winning a lot of hockey games."
"You got to keep pace. You got to keep pushing. That to me has been a strong suit of ours. The fact that the guys play hard consistently."
Shea Weber -- Notching his 13th multi-goal outing of his career, Weber converted Nashville's first short-handed goal of the season and helped the Predators continue their perfect streak of wins immediately following a loss this year.
Brian Elliott -- Stopping 44 shots on the night, Elliott negated many of Nashville's high quality chances on net and kept the Blues in the game, giving them every chance to tie it up late into regulation.
Olli Jokinen -- What's been largely a disappointing first half of the season for Jokinen, the long-time Finnish forward collected his first two assists of the year tonight against St. Louis. Even with only four total points, Jokinen has been providing great veteran play for Nashville.
