Wings fly past Preds
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ian White and Cory Emmerton scored in the first period, and the Detroit Red Wings got the best revenge against the Nashville Predators with a 3-2 victory Friday night that evened the opening series 1-1.
Johan Franzen also scored, and Jimmy Howard made 24 saves as the Red Wings answered Nashville defenceman Shea Weber being fined only $2,500 for smashing Henrik Zetterberg’s head into the glass at the end of Game 1 on Wednesday night.
Todd Bertuzzi dropped the gloves with Weber 1:36 into the game and landed a good punch before they were separated. Game 3 is Sunday in Detroit. Weber and Andrei Kostitsyn scored for Nashville, which missed a chance for its first 2-0 series lead in its seventh post-season. The Predators had yet another sold-out crowd, yet the NHL’S best power play in the regular season is 0-for12 in the series.
Detroit coach Mike Babcock had said his Red Wings didn’t have the personnel to retaliate against Weber for shoving Zetterberg’s head into the glass at the end of Game 1. Well, Bertuzzi is around, and he dropped the gloves early to get it over with. Zetterberg even got a push in on Weber in the second period.
Weber gave the Predators a chance with his goal with 4:44 left, scoring on a backhander from the slot. But that was it as the Red Wings grabbed home-ice advantage.
The Predators cut down their penalties from the first game with only two aside from Weber’s fighting major. They also outshot and outhit the Red Wings while holding them to the fewest shots Detroit has ever taken against Nashville in the post-season with 17.
But goalie Pekka Rinne, who made 35 saves in the opening victory for Nashville, gave up three goals on the first 10 shots he faced.
Nashville missed a couple chances off the post, including after Weber’s goal on a shot by Kostitsyn. Howard had a nice pad save on Alexander Radulov on Nashville’s first man advantage.
The Predators had the NHL’S best power play in the regular season, but they have yet to score against Detroit in this series.