The second period of Game 2 has been pretty brutal for the Nashville Predators.
While they enjoyed a touch of luck in seeing a near-goal fall through for the Anaheim Ducks, the Bridgestone Arena crowd hasn’t had much to cheer about in Game 2. The Predators have been hammering pucks John Gibson’s way for much of the first 40 minutes to no avail.
For one thing, Corey Perry scored a 1-0 goal from an angle that Pekka Rinne will likely regret. To be fair, scorers are exploiting strange angles more and more frequently this season.
If that wasn’t frustrating enough, consider why the Ducks received a power play. Jared Boll delivered the second big hit of the night on Harry Zolnierczyk, who left the ice. Cody McLeod received an instigator penalty for starting a fight with Boll in defense of “Harry Z.”
You can see that hit and penalty in the video above this post’s headline. Here’s the other painful moment for Zolnierczyk:
Nate Thompson slams Harry Z into the boards. Preds to the PP. pic.twitter.com/ysazmasp76
— AtoZ Sports Nashville (@AtoZSports) May 17, 2017
Remarkably, the journeyman forward returned during the same second period.
Boll’s reaction to the 1-0 goal won’t earn him any Predators fans.
Jared Boll's reaction to Ducks scoring the game's opening goal: absolutely priceless pic.twitter.com/y8MNInpg5b
— Jason Gold (@JayGold85) May 17, 2017