On the strength of a seven point performance by the Mike Fisher/ Sergei Kostitsun / Martin Erat line, the Nashville Predators took care of business last night, defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. The loss was costly for the Leafs. Not only did it continue their recent slide, but two more players hit the injured list Mike Komisarek and Matthew Lombardi both left the game with injuries. IN his post game presser, Ron Wilson classified both injuries as “upper body.” However, that is not the most reliable information as the Maple Leafs coach and the Toronto press are in a bit of a snit over a silly conflict about injury reporting.
After last Tuesday’s firewagon skate fest against the Capitals, this game felt a lot slower. Toronto outplayed the Preds for long stretches of time and quite honestly, deserved a better fate, however, a slump does take on weight the longer it goes and you got a sense that the Leafs were waiting for the next show to drop. I also got the sense that this Toronto team is about ready to break out of their funk. Since it didn’t happen last night, I( most certainly expect it to happen sometime over the next two games while the Leafs are home.
The best things to take away from last nights game, besides the two points, is that Martin Erat is now officially on a run with two consecutive multi-point games and Pekka Rinne is good. Preds are back in action tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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Random Notes
- A lesson for the rook… Keep the puck on the ice when shooting at the open net. Craig Smith is going to be hearing it from his teammates for his gaffe at the end of the game.
- What a scrap in the third period last night.
- Saturday night’s opponent is coming off a shootout loss to the Boston Bruins. It is their first road point of the season. Columbus comes to Smashville sporting the worst record in the NHL and is the only team that hasn’t won a game on the road as of yet.
- Nice article on FoxSports.com about Mitch Korn written by Jim Diamond.
- The Predators are 7-1-2 in their last ten games and stand second in the Central Division and fourth in the Western conference
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