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Preds take 3-1 series as filth factor ramps up

April 19, 2018, 11:08 AM ET [26 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
OK… the Nashville Predators are up 3-1 in their series with the Colorado Avalanche after last night’s 3-2 win at Pepsi Center. I am going to take a contrarian viewpoint to the criticism the Predators are taking regarding their “lack of discipline” after going up 3-0 last night. I am sorry, but when the Avalanche got as down and dirty as they did last night, you cannot let those go.

Ryan Hartman took a spear to a region that makes most men cringe… then took a second… and he was supposed to just calmly skate away from the (uncalled) offense? Nope… he should not and I am glad he responded. And by the way… if he gets suspended for a shoulder to shoulder hit, the DoPS … oh… what am I saying? No one knows what the hell they will do.

Let’s put it this way… if Hartman gets suspended, so should Gabriel Landeskog for his headhunting ways in last night’s game. That’s right… I said it.

After charging Ryan Johansen and hitting him well after the puck had left the area… hitting him as the player was vulnerable and already falling down without pulling up at all, sending Johansen to the locker room… no penalty gets called. It was an absolutely filthy hit, but no one said a word about it. Then Saint Gabriel decides that a cross check to the face of Mattias Ekholm, again, after the whistle… apparently, that is a decent hockey play as there was no penalty called… and let’s play that forward a bit… if that penalty was called, Landerskog would not have been on the ice to score the second goal. But the patron saint of head hits skated away with no repercussions from the officials. That’s why I am glad that the Predators won on the scoreboard… and in the alley.

The only place the Predators didn’t win was in the court of NHL media… not a word on NHL Overtime or NHL Tonight about Ladeskog headhunting… but plenty of lobbying to suspend Hartman, and that lobbying appeared to have been successful as the NHL just announced that Hartman will get a hearing for the hit… the bias in the NHL DoPS is evident in their tweet about the hearing…


Note the language… I see… have a hearing to confirm the conviction. Sheesh… and ummm…by the way… if the DoPS really wants to get head shots out of the game… where is the hearing for Landeskog?

[crickets]

The Nashville Predators are not choirboys, they are called out on the misdeeds when warranted, but let’s not pretend this group of Avalanche are pure as a fresh Rocky Mountain snowfall… the only way they are in this series is through their dirty play.

This is playoff hockey, I get it, when you don’t have as much talent as your opponent, you resort to these tactics to stay in games and hope to steal the series… so let’s not pretend that this team is any more than it is. We saw that in the first two periods of last night’s game. When this Predators team plays its’ game, Colorado doesn’t belong on the same rink.

So… the series comes back to Smashville. If Nashville plays like they did last night, this series is over, no matter what behind the play, after the whistle crap Colorado pulls. Game five game time is 8:30pm tomorrow night.

Be there…

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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!



Second one through as the Sharks sweep the Ducks… is this the end of the Corey Perry/Ryan Getzlaff era? San Jose takes on the surprising Vegas Golden Knights in round two...

Eastern Conference
Tampa Bay Lightning vs New Jersey Devils – TBL leads 3-1 – Game five is Saturday
Washington Capitals vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – CBJ leads 2-1 – Game four is tonight
Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Philadelphia Flyers – PIT leads 3-1 – Game five is Sunday
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – BOS leads 2-1 – Game four is tonight

Western Conference
Nashville Predators vs. Colorado Avalanche – NSH leads 2-1 – Game five is tomorrow
Vegas Golden Knights vs. Los Angeles Kings – VGK wins 4-0
Winnipeg Jets vs. Minnesota Wild – WPG leads 3-1 – Game five is tomorrow
Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks – SJS wins 4-0

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Last night’s SlapShot Radio


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Random Notes

- Nice to see the real Nashville Predators show up last night.

- Filip Forsberg was simply amazing again last night… he has two of the best goals of the playoffs… and we are only four games in.

- Tickets are very scarce for tomorrow’s game five… don’t forget the lottery for 100 day of game tickets, it may be your only chance.

- With the Sharks sweep, Vegas has got to be feeling pretty good… they owned the Sharks in the regular season.

- The Penguins smashed the Flyers again last night… every one f these games has been a blowout.

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