In tonight’s 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, Kevin Klein and the Nashville Predators caught a break that has gone against them in past years.
At the 5:15 mark of the second period, with the game knotted 1-1, Kevin Klein flipped the puck towards Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. For a moment, it just looked like a casual dump in – but the result was different from normal. The puck proceeded to bounce over Crawford to give the Preds a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
“The ice was getting a little rough, (David) Legwand made the pass and I just decided to put a little English on it on net and I got a lucky bounce,” Klein said with a wry smile after the game.
Klein’s third goal of the year was reminiscent of bounces that have gone against the Preds in the playoffs before.
“Klein’s bomb from (center ice) was a bit of a change. Those are hard (to bounce back from). Nicklas Lidstrom has done that to us a couple times, where he bounced them in,” Predators head coach Barry Trotz said. “At that point, that really changed the momentum against a tired hockey team.”
Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville added, “Obviously you lose a little momentum off that kind of goal.”
Late in the first period, the Preds had another bounce go their way that Klein was, again, at the center of. When Chicago’s Viktor Stalberg hit the inside of the post in the waning seconds of the first, Pekka Rinne could not locate the puck quickly. However, Klein came to the rescue and cleared the puck before the ‘Hawks could take a lead into the first intermission – which could have changed the outlook on the game.
“That took a weird bounce, too,” Klein said. “I just saw the puck behind Pekka and managed to clear it.”
The Predators responded well after Klein’s goal, scoring two more times in a dominant second period to take a 4-1 lead into the intermission after 40 minutes, and ultimately grabbing a 5-2 victory.
As Klein put simply, “It was a great team effort tonight.”
With a lot of Blackhawks fans in attendance, and Preds fans as boisterous as always, the game had a playoff feel to it. A sold out Bridgestone Arena – the 15th sellout of the season for the Preds – witnessed a well-played contest that resulted in the Preds claiming their seventh win in their last eight games.
“I don’t know if we came out with more intensity, but the building was ramped up from the get go and that doesn’t hurt the home team, I know that,” Trotz said.
The Predators (28-16-4) will have one day off before heading into their back-to-back against Columbus at home on Monday and Chicago on the road on Tuesday.
