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Last Night's SlapShot Radio...
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Pull out any tired old sports cliché you want, it will fit here. The Nashville Predators came all the way back last night with a heart-pounding, nerve-wracking, cliff hanger of a 2-1 victory at Honda Center to take game 7 of their first round series against the Anaheim Ducks. Give full marks to the Ducks, they did not fold after going down 0-2 in the first period. They came at the Predators in waves and threw everything they could at Nashville to come back and try and tie the game. They couldn’t.
Time to face it… Nashville was the better team in this series. For all the talk and predictions, the Nashville Predators were the better team on the ice.
Looking back at all seven games, the Predators were ready to play from puck drop of game one. The Ducks were not, dropping the first two games at home before waking up and actually playing hockey. The Predators did not handle the pushback that they received in game three and four and dropped both on home ice, but the worm turned in game five. The Predators deserved a better fate than the puck luck they saw in that game five loss… and here is where the series may have been won.
Coach Peter Laviolette took the positives from that loss, pointed out the good things that the Predators did and built on it, instilling a confidence in the team that they could do this and the key was how he positioned game six as a dress rehearsal for game seven. It would prove to be a master stroke and a big reason Laviolette is now 5-1 in game sevens and the only NHL head coach to win five consecutive game sevens in NHL history. He gave all the credit to the players in his post game presser, but this coach made a difference in this series.
The other key to the Predators taking this series? Just Pekka being Pekka…
Pekka Rinne has not had a great season by his standards, but the RinneWall was in full effect in games 5, 6 and 7. His save percentage was 97% in the last two games with a miniscule GAA. Credit the Predators defensively, they cleared the shooting lanes, jumped on rebounds and didn’t allow very many second chance opportunities. Those second chance opportunities were erased by Rinne. The big Finnish netminder was relishing in the opportunity presented to him and rose to the challenge... the rumors of Rinne's demise have been GREATLY overstated.
From the Ducks perspective, a fourth straight game seven loss has them confounded and confused but all they need to do is look at games one and two to explain the series loss. Anaheim did not show up for those games and that one is on the Ducks head coach. It will be an interesting situation to watch in Anaheim regarding Bruce Boudreau and if he will continue in his current role. This is a results based business, and no matter how nice Bruce Boudreau may be, his results when everything is on the line speaks volumes. That being said, the Ducks need to look at the landscape and ask the question... "who out there is better?" If Boudreau has coached his last game in Anaheim, he won't stay on the sidelines for long, he will have offers almost immediately.
Pred Nation wakes up bleary eyed and sleep deprived with goofy grins on their faces. Let’s take a few minutes to savor this one… then get ready for tomorrow night’s game one in San Jose. Three road wins in round 1 should give the Preds a lot of confidence heading into the Shark Tank.
Series preview coming tomorrow.
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Cause for Joy – Do I really need to write anything here?
Cause for Concern – Well… there is the power play, but I will leave that alone right now because…
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Random Playoff Notes
- Tickets for Round 2, games 3, 4 and 6 in Smashville go on sale at 10am today at nashvillepredators.com
- The Predators really took care of the puck in games 6 and 7… only 7 giveaways last night after posting only 8 in game 6.
- Face off were fairly even as well in the last two games, with Anaheim having only a slight edge.
- A key to last night’s win… blocked shots… Rinne made 36 saves and the Predators had 24 blocked shots.
- Anaheim outhit the Preds last night, but most everyone is talking about Miikka Salomaki’s hit on Corey Perry… the Wrecking Ball strikes again!
- Headline in today’s Orange County Register… “Wince and Repeat”
- Updated Game 7 records for the two franchises… Anaheim – 2-6, Nashville – 1-0
- If you tell me that you picked Paul Gaustad to have the series winning goal… well… I’ll call BS on that one.
- The New York Islanders made a statement last night, chasing Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop with four goals on 13 shots and Tampa made one as well, almost coming all the way back to tie it late.
- Speaking of statements... Islanders head coach Jack Capuano took a puck to the face during the game... he returned to the bench fairly quickly and looked like a boxer after a fight in his post game presser.
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First Round Series Snapshots - all times Central
- Predators / Ducks – NSH wins 4-3 – Will face SJS in Round 2
- Kings / Sharks – SJS wins 4-1 – Will face NSH in Round 2
Second Round Snapshots
Lightning / Islanders – NYI Leads 1-0 – Game 2 Sat @ TBL – 2pm – NBC
Season eight of SlapShot Radio is on! Join us every Wednesday night at 7 on 102.5 the Game. Pete Weber and I cover the playoffs from pillar to post.
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