Weber and the Predators Down Stars, 3-2 (OT) – Postgame

The Dallas Stars are able to pick up a point in the standings but they saw their losing streak hit three when Shea Weber scored in overtime to give the Predators a 3-2 win.  The Stars are now 0-6 in overtime this season and just can’t seem to find a way to win games past 60 minutes.  The full recap of the game is below.

Recap

Early on the Predators were really out-skating the Stars.  It started with a fast break chance from defenseman Roman Josi, who just skated away from everyone to get a mini breakaway chance.  Nashville controlled play for the first few minutes and then the Stars got one of their best chances in the period.  Cody Eakin fed Jason Demers from behind the net and Demers rang a shot off the post behind Pekka Rinne.  The period dragged along a bit until former Star Mike Ribeiro got a cutting pass from Filip Forsberg but was unable to tuck it past Kari Lehtonen.  Just a couple of minutes later however, Ribeiro would drop a pass back to Shea Weber who unleashed a bomb past Lehtonen to give the Predators a 1-0 lead.  Following the goal, the Predators immediately turned the puck over and Cody Eakin had a glorious chance in the slot but Rinne turned it aside to preserve the 1-0 lead for Nashville.

The second period was tough for both teams.  The Predators and the Stars chipped away at each other with lots of physical play and board play.  Quality chances were rare for more than half of the period.  Eventually Pekka Rinne would finally show a little bit of weakness.  Jason Spezza drove down the right side of the ice and slipped it past the blocker of Rinne on a tough angle to tie the game at 1.  That opened up the game a little bit and Nashville was the first to take advantage.  Miikka Salomaki scored his first career NHL goal on a breakaway pass from Josi to restore the Predators one goal lead.  Shortly after that goal the Stars were on the penalty kill and Jamie Benn had an empty net chance shorthanded but Weber was able to get in front of the puck to keep it out.  As fans were leaving the seats to head to the concessions for intermission, Trevor Daley was given a nice pass from Jamie Benn and tied the game with under two seconds left.

Intensity was the name of the game in the third period.  Quality scoring chances on both sides of the ice.  Huge hits were being delivered from the likes of Seth Jones and Jamie Oleksiak.  Towards the end of the second period the game opened up quite a bit and that continued in the third.  About halfway through the period, John Klingberg was able to showcase his moves as he danced through a few Predators before eventually being stoned by the pad of Rinne.  With five minutes to play, Tyler Seguin had his best chance of the game as he slapped one towards the net but once again Rinne had the answer.  Shortly after the Seguin chance, the Predators thought they had the go-ahead goal as Kari Lehtonen was occupied in front of the net and Filip Forsberg scored.  After a discussion by the referees, it was determined that a Nashville player made contact with Lehtonen and the goal was waved off.  There was a lot of chaos in the final minutes but ultimately the game remained tied and headed to overtime.

Not much to say about the overtime period.  17 seconds was all Shea Weber needed to score his second of the game and send the Stars packing.

Thoughts and Observations

For starters, the Stars arguably didn’t deserve the point they got as the Forsberg goal being waved off was questionable at best.  There were many defensive breakdowns in this game but ultimately turnovers is what cost them.

Kari Lehtonen played his worst game in quite some time.  Shea Weber has an absolute bomb, but the two that found their way past Lehtonen probably shouldn’t go in.

Lindy Ruff split up Benn and Seguin in the second period of this game to try to counteract the Weber/Josi matchup that the Predators had on them.  Benn was with Eakin and Ritchie while Seguin was put on a wing with Spezza and Cole.  Although it did succeed in opening things up in the game, I doubt we will see it much moving forward.

Pekka Rinne is really good, but this was one of his shakier performances, unfortunately the Stars couldn’t capitalize on that.

The Stars are back in action on Saturday when they take on the Avalanche in Colorado!  Keep reading Blackout Dallas for game news and updates!