Preds Give Fans Shootout Catharsis

Preds fans rejoice! The dragon has been slain!

Of the 100 NHL games played so far this season, just 13 have ended in a shootout – and the Nashville Predators have been involved in four of them. Before defeating the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 last night, they hadn’t won a single one, leaving them with the strange-looking record of 1-2-3. That all finally changed last night when Sergei Kostitsyn made Jonathan Quick bite early and slid the puck home through the five-hole to give Nashville the win.

It was the team’s second victory in seven tries. It felt like the first time, though. Part it was the fact that the win came in a shootout, which thus far had confounded super-goalie Pekka Rinne in direct contradiction to his stellar career record in them. Another part had to do with late-night start. West Coast games don’t start in Nashville until 9:30 p.m. CST, so the faithful had to stay up into the wee hours of the morning to watch their team make it through three periods, overtime, and eight rounds of a shootout against the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Those who stayed awake long enough took to Twitter to savor the victory:

That was one of the most stressful games I’ve ever watched.We needed that.

— Riverfront Station (@WeBleedGold) February 1, 2013

It wasn’t pretty. But the #Preds got their gutsiness back tonight.Very Rocky 2ish.#Balboa — Willy Daunic (@WillyD1025) February 1, 2013

Talk about a little too close for comfort… #preds #nhl #lakings #shootout twitter.com/LizGuilyard/st… — Elizabeth Guilyard (@LizGuilyard) February 1, 2013

Ruling on that sk74 shot was he was passing to a fan in the front row wearing a gold jersey and it just happened to go in. #pass1st

— Andrew Slemp (@achslemp) February 1, 2013

Kostitsyn: dekes and scores! #PREDS WIN IN A SO! FINALLY!

— Fang Finger (@Fang_Faction) February 1, 2013

Hey #Preds. Thanks for showing up tonight.

— Michael Bingoff (@Kemo_Sabi) February 1, 2013

Finally, a sense of normalcy in our #NHLFantasy lives again. #Preds‘ Pekka Rinne picks up first win of season. 23 SV on 24 SOG. Earned it. — kate bellman (@katebellman) February 1, 2013

Congrats peks. Get your confidence back on the road. #becauseitstheroadtrip #NHL — kyle mcelhiney (@jaymcelhiney) February 1, 2013

Gabby, Leggy, #SK74, and Peks played big in the shootout win for #Preds. Lets not forget about Yipper’s… instagr.am/p/VLjkSIg6AA/

— Andrew Stone (@Astone_112) February 1, 2013

Big win for the #Preds tonight, they needed that big time.. Shoot I was starting to get bummed out, they still have work to do — Trey Horsfall (@WeathermanTrey) February 1, 2013

#Preds game – crazy! 8 rounds, if that were the #Wings i would have had a heart attack after the 3rd shooters, god i hate shootouts #nerves — Natalie Scalabrino (@natalie1425) February 1, 2013

Huge win for the #preds tonight. Gotta get the confidence up! — Ramesh Ranjan (@rammer17) February 1, 2013

I’m so happy for Craig tonight, that was awesome & he really needed that! #preds

— Brittney H (@brittneybonbe) February 1, 2013

The Predators will take today off and enjoy their victory as they travel to San Jose, where the undefeated Sharks await them for a Saturday night matchup. That one will be another 9:30 p.m. CST start, and I’ll be tweeting throughout the game at @PredlinesNSH. Until then, what did you think about the shootout?

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