Predators vs red wings highlights today11/8/2022 ![]() ![]() “It just seemed like everything that was shot toward the net in that first period seemed to go in,” Kal recalled. That brought an end to the night for Conklin, who surrendered four goals on just nine shots. The next oddity occurred 27 seconds later when forward Antti Pihlstrom scored the second - and final - goal of his NHL career, knocking home his own breakaway rebound. But all the goals, we worked really hard for them.” “You work hard and do all the right stuff like we did that game, then the bounces will roll your way. “When you score goals like that … I really believe in hockey karma and the hockey gods, as we call it,” Dumont said. Ward was actually trying to pass the puck in front to teammate Jerred Smithson, but the puck deflected into the air off Wings defenseman Brad Stuart’s stick, then bounced off the back of goalie Ty Conklin’s mask and rolled down his back before dropping over the goal line. The Red Wings had won a tough game at home the previous night before traveling to Nashville, and a fresher Predators team jumped on Detroit right away, as defenseman Ville Koistinen scored less than five minutes into the contest.īut the first indication fortune would favor the Preds that night came midway through the first period, when forward Joel Ward - stationed almost directly behind Detroit’s net - somehow managed to score the game’s third goal. The crowd was so into it right away.” Hockey gods smiling From our fans’ standpoint, it was always special. “But I definitely got it the first time we played Detroit in Nashville. Dumont, who notched three assists that night. “When I first moved to Nashville, they told me the biggest rivalry for us was the Red Wings, and I wasn’t sure why at first,” said former Preds forward J.P. But a packed house was always the norm when Detroit came to town, and things were especially lively on Saturday nights like the one in 2009. Unlike today, there was no such thing as a consecutive sellout streak for the Predators back then. It also drove the Predators more than a little crazy that there were always so many Red Wings fans in their building - mostly auto-worker transplants from Motor City - whenever the teams met. We always felt that when we were as good as Detroit, we would be a team that could compete for the Stanley Cup.” Every time we played them, it was the biggest game of the year. “When you talk about rivalries back then, there was only one,” Predators general manager David Poile said. But the Preds were still far behind the Wings when it came to star power, salaries and success. The Predators had over the years narrowed the massive gap that existed between the two franchises when Nashville entered the league in 1998-99. ![]() It wouldn’t be until 2013 that Detroit would move to the Eastern Conference. The Red Wings had been the NHL’s gold standard since the Predators came into existence, a team that in 2009 had claimed two of the past six Stanley Cups, won four of the past six Presidents’ Trophies, captured seven consecutive Central Division titles and totaled at least 100 points eight seasons in a row. Nobody ever saw it coming.” Only one rivalryĪ little more background is in order to fully set the scene prior to that contest. Beating Detroit was always a huge boost for morale and for your team, especially in front of a crowd that was just rocking the building.”Īdded Ken Kal, the Red Wings’ longtime radio play-by-play man: “Nobody expected it. “Anytime you could beat Detroit in that era in time, well, you were just counting your blessings you weren’t on the receiving end of that 8-0 score, usually. “That game was unbelievable,” Arnott said in a phone interview last week. Predators vs red wings highlights today free#It was no wonder the following morning’s Detroit Free Press used the headline “Octo-Pummeled” – referencing the Wings’ long history with the eight-legged creature - to portray the visitors’ ugly experience. Included among the Nashville highlights that night: the first five-goal first period in franchise history the second-fastest three-goal scoring spree in franchise history a Jason Arnott hat trick a goal scored from behind the Detroit net and a brutally one-sided beating delivered by defenseman Shea Weber. ![]()
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