With game four random notes below… let’s begin our look at the Nashville Predator 2017-18 team with a breakdown of the defense, we will look at the goaltending situation next then the forwards and then the leadership group in future posts.
Health – The Nashville Predators blueline was fairly healthy for most of the season. PK Subban played in every game, Mattias Ekholm missed only one game, Roman Josi only missed seven. Ryan Ellis, recovering from offseason surgery, didn’t return to the lineup until Jan. 2 and played 44 games. Alexei Emelin played in 76 games but is not being resigned. The rest was split between Matt Irwin (50 games), Yannick Weber (47 games) and Anthony Bitetto (32 games)
Rankings – If you look at straight goals against per game played, the Predators ranked second in the NHL at 2.49 goals per game but the underlying numbers paint a bit of a different picture. A normal Preds defense over the last few seasons has seen them be one of the best shot limiting teams in the league… not last season where they ranked a pedestrian 32.4 shots per game, in the bottom third of league ranking. Also smack dab in the middle of NHL rankings, was team giveaways.
Strengths – Where do you begin for something like this… any team that can boast the top four defensemen that Nashville can has a long list of strengths. Scoring is one of the largest… PK SUbban with 59 points, Roman Josi with 53 points, Mattias Ekholm with 34 points and Ryan Ellis with 32 points in only 44 games. Eight game winning goals, 63 power play points, six shorthanded points. The obvious offensive instincts and ice sense of this group is certainly a towering strength of this blueline. The break out is normally excellent, the special teams play… all top notch.
Opportunities - This is more eye test than stat, but it seemed that the blueline was far too reckless with the puck this past season. A potential effect of Phil Housley’s shuffle off to Buffalo? Maybe… but the simple, observable fact is that this team was simply not as solid on the blueline as they have been in years past, it was covered by Vezina worthy goaltending in the regular season, it was exposed in the playoffs.
Intangibles - I do wonder how this blueline adapted to a new coach after four years of Phil Housley. I am willing to give a bit of a pass on this as a new voice can be a challenge to adapt to, especially one without the pedigree of his predecessor. I also think that Roman Josi had to grow into the letter on his sweater, something that he did as the season progressed. The one intangible this defense corps needs to work on is their play in the playoffs… in this observer’s opinion, they simply tried to do to much, overplaying quite a bit. Sometimes, just playing within yourself is the best course and needs to be a prime lesson from this season’s playoff disappointment.
Grades – For the regular season, the Predators blueline earned a solid B… gaining positive points from their offensive output and receiving negative points from the bad timing of giveways. For the playoffs, that grade drops to a C - … the overplaying and trying to do too much were dragging factors on that grade, the play of Subban and Ekholm helped it from being worse.
Next up, we will take a look at the goaltending.
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The Playoff Tracker … a daily update of the Stanley Cup Playoffs brought to you by Mark Lonsway - THE real estate professional for hockey fans!
A win tonight by the Capitals puts them in the catbird seat, one win away from the Cup.
The Stanley Cup Final
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Washington Capitals – WSH leads 2-1 - Game Four is tonight in Washington
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Random Stanley Cup Final Notes
- OK… enough with the celebrity starting lineup guys… Vegas using Michael Buffer was OK, even though he has done it in many other NHL rinks, so, nothing really special there and Pay Sajak… well… that was just bad. I know my “PA Announcer” bias is showing here… but leave it to the pro that has been doing it all season.
- Both goaltenders have been good, but so far, Braden Holtby has been outplaying Marc-Andre Fluery in this final. He has come up with the spectacular save when needed and Fluery has not.
- Fun story on NHL.com about TJ Oshie and Matt Niskanen taking DC’s Metro in order to beat the traffic to Game 3.
- This is the first time that Vegas has faced any serious adversity in these playoffs. They have not handled Washington’s physicality well at all. The only times the Knights got anything going was when the Caps backed off on their hitting.
- Washington’s forecheck has given the Knights fits and their shot blocking has completely stymied the Vegas offense. They have to figure this out quick or this series may be over quick.
- Is a big part of the Vegas story puck luck? It may be… this team has had the bounces go their way for most of the season, and now, it seems the hockey gods are exacting some retribution.
- The Vegas Twitter account got pretty salty post game on Saturday night.
- Game four coverage (and for the rest of the series) is on NBC… pregame will be on NBCSN starting at 5pm CDT… 102.5 the Game’s pregame coverage begins at 6pm. Game time is 7pm with the puck drop around 7:20pm.
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