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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Nashville Predators celebrate the
final home game each season with a big party they call the
"Fangastic Fanale." They finally lived up to the billing Thursday
night.
Goaltender Mike Dunham stopped 33 shots and Cliff Ronning had a
power play goal and two assists Thursday night as the third-year
Nashville Predators shut out the Calgary Flames 4-0 for their first
victory in this game.
The Predators, who cap an evening of prizes by giving fans the
sweaters off their backs as part of the party, said winning made it
much more enjoyable to go through the postgame party.
"It's tough to stand out there and listen to the great music
and watch the highlights when you don't win," said right wing
Scott Walker, who had two assists. "Tonight we won. It makes it a
lot more fun."
Nashville coach Barry Trotz was worried about his young team.
The Predators lost at Dallas on Wednesday night and have had
trouble in back-to-back games, having won only four times all
season.
The Predators responded by setting a franchise record with 16
home victories despite winning only six of their first 24. The
Predators did it by getting three goals in the second period
against goalie Mike Vernon.
Dunham also improved his personal and team mark with his fourth
shutout this season as he won his 21st game. David Legwand added a
goal and an assist, while Scott Walker had two assists.
"He just had that look like he was going to make it happen
tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said of Dunham. "He had
that determined `I'm going to stop every puck' look. That's a sign
of his maturity."
The Flames now have lost seven of 12 games since Greg Gilbert
was promoted to head coach.
"I tried to get some kind of emotion on the bench," Gilbert
said. "We need to get things going in the right direction."
Greg Johnson started the scoring 46 seconds into the second as
when he fired the puck off a faceoff in the right circle for his
15th of the season. Vernon could only wave his glove at the puck.
Rookie Marian Cisar scored his 12th at 5:43. Ronning passed to
Cisar, who broke up the ice and faked off Calgary center Marc
Savard in the left circle, fell onto his right knee and pushed the
puck into the goal through Vernon's legs.
Vernon left the game for 45 seconds and was replaced by Fred
Brathwaite, but he returned at 6:28. Ronning scored his 19th on a
wrister over Vernon's shoulder from the right circle at 17:33
during a 4-on-4.
"The NHL is not easy," Vernon said. "We battled back a bit,
but it's tough when you don't get inside. They played very well.
They had a few goals that took me. ... I'm not happy with the way I
played. A goalie sometimes gets frustrated too, once in a while."
Dunham's best stop came with the game already decided. He
knocked down one shot and then gloved Chris Clark's shot off the
rebound as he fell to the ice with 4:42 remaining.
Vernon broke his stick midway through the first period as he
went behind the net after the puck. A few seconds later, Vernon had
to cover up the puck, drawing a penalty for delay of game.
Game notes
The Predators improved to 26-7-4-1 when scoring first and
25-1-3-0 when leading at the beginning of the third. Legwand now
has six points over his last four games, while Walker has six over
his past three. ... The victory reversed a trend for Nashville in
back-to-back games. The Predators, who lost to Dallas on Wednesday
night, won for only the fifth time in the second game. ... Calgary
now is 11-25-10-2 when allowing a power play goal. ... It was
Calgary's first loss since losing Jarome Iginla to an injured hand
for the final week. The Flames had a tie and a victory until
Thursday night.
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NHL Scoreboard
Calgary Clubhouse
Nashville Clubhouse
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Washington 3
Florida 0
Detroit 4
Atlanta 0
Montreal 3
Philadelphia 2
NY Rangers 4
Tampa Bay 3
Nashville 4
Calgary 0
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