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Red Wings vs. Predators – Game 1

MiHockey Staff
The Red Wings fell into an early series hole with a 3-2 loss in Game 1 against the Predators, despite out-shooting them 37-26.

By Michael Caples –

The Nashville Predators posted a 3-2 win over the Red Wings Wednesday night to take the early lead in their best-of-seven series. Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom scored power-play goals for the Red Wings, but it wasn’t enough against goaltender Pekka Rinne and the Predators. Rookie Gabriel Bourque’s two goals proved to be the difference in the contest. Game 2 is Friday night at 7:30 p.m. EST in Nashville.

Quick hits

  • The Wings converted on two of their eight power-play opportunities in the contest. A 25-percent conversion rate is impressive, especially against a talented goaltender like Rinne.
  • MiHockey’s Darren Eliot, talking on Fox Sports Detroit’s post-game show, pointed out the fact that the Red Wings were almost perfect on special teams – they killed off all six Nashville power plays – which added to the “weirdness” of the night. It’s not often that a team can go on the road, play that well on special teams, and not leave with a victory. It’s even stranger because there were 17 penalties between the two squads; seven of them were against the Wings.
  • Reports from Nashville said that Darren Helm was taken to a local hospital for tests after an apparent cut to his arm. The Wings’ forward – who was returning from a knee injury – only managed to play for 3:08 before hitting Alexander Radulov and having the Nashville forward’s skate come up and cut his arm during the ensuing stumble.
  • League officials may be taking a closer look at the end of the contest. A scramble for the puck in the Nashville end led to a battle between Zetterberg and Nashville captain Shea Weber. Instant replay shows that Weber punched Zetterberg in the back of the head, and then shoved his head into the glass – all while Zetterberg was trying to get to his feet.
  • Niklas Kronwall led the Wings in ice-time Wednesday night, playing for 26:36. Zetterberg led the Detroit forwards with 25:48. Nashville’s leader for time-on-ice was Ryan Suter, with 28:34.
  • Detroit ended up out-shooting Nashville 37-26, after the Predators posted a 13-5 advantage in the first period.