Nashville Predators Go Scoreless in Showdown with Detroit Red Wings

By Brittany Wesemann

                        NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators faced The Detroit Red Wings for their last divisional meetup at the Bridgestone Arena on April 14 and fell to their longtime rivals 3-0 in a shut out.

            The Predators hit the ice in Bridgestone Arena to a very loud soldout crowd of 17,331 hockey fans to end an era. The Predators were on a losing streak and had hoped to change that against their longtime rivals, The Detroit Red Wings. Due to the National Hockey League’s new realignment taking place in the 2013-2014 season, the Predators and the Red Wings will no longer be playing in the same conference. It was a rivalry The Predators had hoped to win one more conference game against them at home. Instead, the Predators went scoreless 3-0 only helping propel The Red Wings closer to a coveted NHL playoff spot.

 The Predators had lost six games in a row and were only four points away from being last in the Western Conference. As an NHL team that has made the playoffs the past seven of eight seasons, this is an unusual position to see the Predators in. They were just hoping to keep the Red Wings a few points further from the playoffs. The Predators are the team that ranks first in the number of shutouts against them in the NHL this season.

            The Red Wings had the advantage of an early lead when their Captain and center, Henrik Zetterberg, scored on Predators goalie Pekka Rinne in the second period, with 13:37 still remaining in the period. Two more goals were put up on the scoreboard by the Red Wings, and the Predators struggled to put the puck in the net. Nashville Predators Captain Shea Weber talked to the media after the game.

 “We have to find a way to score goals,” Weber said. “Same thing as we have been in the last however many games. Just have to find a way to do it.”

 The highlight of the game for many Predators fans might have been seeing newly acquired forward Filip Forsberg on the ice for the first time. Although Forsberg is the third youngest player to have ever hit the ice for the Predators, he went against some of the very best in the NHL.

“Obviously he is very nifty and good in small areas with the puck and made a couple of very good plays and almost scored in the second," said Shea Weber speaking highly of Forsberg."He is going to be a good player”.

Weber seems excited about the future of the Predators. For the Predators and the fans, although it is sad to see the division rivalry against the Red Wings go, many are excited about the prospects for new division rivalries and to see these shutouts put far behind the team.

            Some fans were sad to see Detroit leaving the Predators division.

                         “It’s too bad that the rivalry will be ending, said Middle Tennessee State University alumni Jason Kruse, a season ticket holder and loyal Predators fan. “One of the best things about that rivalry was that it was becoming so competitively balanced year after year. Now it will have to be replaced with either a better Chicago (Blackhawks) team or a worse Dallas (Stars) team.

             “The game was the end of one era, beginning of another," said Murfreesboro resident and fan favorite, The Predators in-house “paint up belly painting” guy Ben Butzbach.”If it were not for Wings fans moving to Nashville with the auto industry, we would not have gotten a team. But Detroit never saw it as a true rivalry. Not like Preds fans did. Preds always used Detroit as a measuring stick. After beating them in the playoffs last year, we knew we had measured up.”.

            Many fans feel like Butzbach, grateful for what the Red Wings rivalry did for us but as though The Predators had outgrown it.

            The Nashville Predators were established in 1997 and played their first season in 1998-1999. The Predators have far exceeded expectations and have done wonders for the popularity of hockey in the South. Defying the odds, Nashville has gone to the Stanley Cup playoffs nine of their 15 seasons as a hockey club. In 2011, the Predators advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time knocking out the Anaheim Ducks. In 2012, the Predators were defeated by the Phoenix Coyotes in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In 2013, Nashville ended the season 27th in the National Hockey League and will be picking fourth in the 2013 NHL draft. More information can be found at www.NashvillePredators.com.