Pekka Rinne and Kari Lehtonen faced off as the pride of active Finnish goaltenders squared off in Dallas on Thursday. On this night, they faced equal shots, but Rinne pulled off one more save and plenty more highlight reel type stops to lead the upstart Predators to the 3-2 victory.
One play in the first period summarized the game fairly well. After a turnover by Nashville in the Dallas zone, Tyler Seguin raced up the right side of the ice with Jamie Benn to his left and a defender between them. Seguin placed the pass perfectly onto Benn’s stick, past the defender, and Benn had an open net to score on. But he could not handle the puck on time and it allowed Rinne to more to his right and get in position to make the save. Golden opportunity, but no dice for the Stars. The Stars seemed to be playing basketball on ice—they got up and down the ice quickly, generating a lot of chances but not able to keep the puck in the Nashville zone.
In the second period, the Predators struck twice on power plays. The first was scored by Craig Smith, with Lehtonen being screen by Colin Wilson. Later that period, Filip Foresberg scored with the man advantage as Mike Ribiero screened the goalie to allow the puck to go in. When all seemed lost for the Stars, Trevor Daley came through once again making a play-taking the puck in from the blue line and rocketing a shot past Rinne to put the Stars within one, which is how they would go to the second intermission.
The third period started slowly as the Stars emphasized puck possession over shots, and finally Patrick Eaves scored with even strength to tie the game. With six minute to go Matt Cullen scored after a scrum in front of the net to record the game winning goal for Nashville. Dallas had opportunities in the waning minutes, Benn having a golden opportunity that he could not put home. After pulling the goalie Tyler Seguin had a good chance, his shot went through the legs of Roman Josi but hit Rinne in the chest.
The Predators have been surprising this season. Peter Laviolette has gotten the most out of this team and getting Pekka Rinne back healthy has been the exact thing this team needed. The Stars showed their speed in this game but the Predators young forwards and defensemen were up for the challenge. Having veteran centers in Derek Roy and Mike Ribiero along with James Neal on the wing has provided the offense they needed last season. Nashville is here to stay, and when Mike Fisher comes back they will be that much better.
For the Stars, they have suffered too many close defeats this season. They have lost by one goal to the Blackhawks, Blues, Flyers, Predators and Ducks on their home ice. In the west, those points missed can make the difference between going to the tournament and watching it. One thing this author did not understand was putting Eaves with Benn and Seguin. When the Stars were winning Spezza was on the first line with the dynamic duo. Put Eaves is a third liner at best, why ruin the top line of speed and playmaking? Makes no sense to this author. Spezza is a masterful passer, he made plays like Jason Kidd in his prime. Spezza is like a point guard on the ice. Paring Spezza with Ales Hemsky and Valeri Nichushkin just seemed comical from this point of view. Yours truly could also see the difference not having Cody Eakin available made. Even as a third line center Eakin allows the third line to go all out every shift and he paired with Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt is among the best agitating lines in the NHL. This team is built to play fast, and Eakin is perfect for this kind of team.
Hockey is a game of inches, and right now the Stars are just inches away from pulling out some of these wins. While it is too early to panic, if they do not pick it up they will be hard pressed to get out of the cellar, which is where they currently find themselves. With 12 points they sit behind Colorado (13 points), Minnesota (14), Chicago (15), surprising Winnipeg (16), Nashville (18) and red hot St. Louis (19). Few divisions have the depth of the central. The Stars will need to break out of this funk quickly to keep from falling further behind in this ultra-competitive division.