We're halfway through the first period, and Nashville gets a huge scoring chance with a big shot from that Antti Niemi gets in front of and covers urgently. Devin Setoguchi collides with Patrick Marleau and leaves the ice to the locker room, which is definitely a bad sign for the Sharks, as he's been on a hot streak lately. To make matters worse, Ryane Clowe is called for hooking and gets two minutes on what I'd consider to be a soft call.
The following two faceoffs lead to immediate shot opportunities from Ryan Sutter, but Niemi was ready for it. The Predators keep ti in the zone and there's a scramble in front of the net where I'm pretty sure that somebody took a shot on net. When play resumes again, Joel Ward sinks a puck in the back of the net right from the goal line, he got low and just pushed it in between Niemi's pads. Shea Weber and Martin Erat are credited with assists.
5:20 remains and the Sharks are at full strength again, with Devin Setoguchi back on ice and skating well. The Sharks keep the puck in Nashville's zone for a good portion of time and Logan Couture has a chance in a 2-on-1, but Pekka Rinne shows off his glove by snatching the hard shot right out of the air.
Setoguchi is out for another shift and that's yet another good sign. The teams exchange scoring opportunities back and forth, but the goalies hold strong. The quarter comes to an end. The game is tied at 1-1, with the Predators out-shooting the Sharks 13-10, converting one of their two power players, while the Sharks have yet to bring out a power play unit.