Winter Classic nightmare
First off, the experience of the Winter Classic at Cotton Bowl Stadium is one that was incredible to witness, win or lose. Be that as it may, this was a disastrous game for many reasons regarding the Nashville Predators.
Ryan Ellis was lost for an extender amount of time due to a dirty hit to the head by Dallas’ Corey Perry. Fans and players alike are still probably not over that as the Predators suffered a huge blow to their already questionable defense.
Ellis of course took the high road as the classy player that he is when asked about it, courtesy of WKRN News 2 and Kayla Anderson:
Great to see Ryan Ellis paired up with Roman Josi at practice, it looks like he could be ready to play Friday. Ellis has been out since January 1st with a concussion. He took the high road when asked about Corey Perry's dirty hit in the Winter Classic. #Preds pic.twitter.com/qT8L0emjJ0
— Kayla Anderson ✨ (@KaylaAndersonTV) February 20, 2020
Then you have the quick turn of events after the Predators scored the game’s first two goals. They were actually playing with a lot of intensity and had control of the game.
All hell broke loose after that when the Stars gradually stole momentum away, got the crowd behind them and pounced on the Predators relentlessly in the 3rd period to win 4-2.
This was probably the final straw for Peter Laviolette’s time as Nashville’s head coach, although he would coach two more games before being fired almost a week later.