Game two drops the puck at 7pm tonight at Scottrade Center as the Nashville Predators attempt to take a 2-0 stranglehold on their second round playoff series with the St. Louis Blues. The Predators will have to deal with a mounting pile of injuries as Kevin Fiala’s broken left femur means he is done for the playoffs… at least. He joins Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok on the sideline, the only difference is, we know Fiala won’t be back this season. The timeline for the return of Smith and Jarnkrok is anything but clear.
Even with the injury list growing, this Preds team depth has been a real asset. Lose a center in Jarnkrok… no worries, plug in veteran Vernon Fiddler who comes in and… oh gee… only gets the game winner to steal game one. Craig Smith can’t go? OK… let’s get Colin Wilson in there and Playoff Colin was in full effect, getting his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Kevin Fiala not available? OK… move up a player and bring in Miikka Salomaki, or Harry Z.
The Predators will have to replace Fiala’s scoring, and that may need to come from a PA Parenteau, who appears to be on the verge of a breakout. He has played very good hockey over the last few games and looked very good in game one. The other player I am looking to get on track is James Neal. He has seemed reticent to shoot lately which has drawn questions about his health.
For St. Louis, they have to recover after a gut punch of a game one loss. The Blues played well, as well as they played in the first round, but they did not get the same results. A few improvements they need to implement… better special teams, The Blues gave up two power play goals and could not convert, continuing a frustrating playoff run of only one goal in sixteen power play chances in the playoffs. Associated with that, the Blues need to maintain better discipline, they took way to many penalties.
The desperation factor tilts in St. Louis’ favor tonight, they know they can’t come into Nashville down 0-2 and hope to continue their playoff run. Nashville will be playing with a bit house money, which can be a double-edged sword. They learned the value of coming out strong in game two in their first round series, so Pred Nation is hoping to see that same effort tonight.
Game coverage will get going at 6pm on 102.5 the Game as Darren McFarland hosts pregame from the Gateway City, Pete Weber and the Coach, Brent Peterson will handle the call starting at 7pm. Kenny Albert and Pierre McGuire have the coverage on NBCSN starting at 7. There is also a plaza party at Bridgestone Arena tonight... that gets going at 6:30pm.
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The gauntlet has been thrown down from my fellow blogger in St. Louis, Jason Millen. We will make a small wager on this series… losing team’s blogger makes a donation to the winning team’s blogger charity of choice…
Mine will be Best Buddies of Tennessee… a charity very familiar to fans of the fang…
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Round Two
Eastern Conference
NYR vs OTT – OTT leads 1-0 - Game two is tomorrow in Ottawa
WSH vs PIT – PIT leads 1-0 - Game two is tomorrow night in Washington
Western Conference
STL vs. NSH – NSH leads 1-0 - Game two is tonight in St. Louis
ANA vs. EDM – EDM leads 1-0 - Game two is tonight in Anaheim
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Playoff Random Notes
- The Preds finally have their first five game win streak of the season… they picked a pretty good time to do it.
- Even after giving up three goals on Wednesday night, Pekka Rinne has a 1.14 GAA and a Save % of .962 … Rinne went through a stretch in the second period where he got a little two active between the pipes, but overall played well.
- PK Subban stepped up big time in game one… the Blues did not seem to have an answer for the Predators defense.
- Social media threw a whole bunch of scorn at the fourth line makeup from Wednesday night, but I believe the right message was sent. Ryan Reeves may have registered 10 hits in the game, but I didn’t think he was in the intimidating factor the Blues need him to be… and I also think that there was a bit of home cooking in those 10 registered hits. Reeves was basically a non-factor.
- Pittsburgh – Washington dropped the puck last night… and it got chippy quick… Washington can’t seem to find an answer for the Penguins yet.
- Road teams are 1-3 so far as only Ottawa has held serve at home so far in the second round.
- Two game in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight – 7pm – NSH @ STL (NBCSN). 9:30pm – EDM @ ANA (NBCSN)
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