The first game is always a statement game in a playoff series, and after Nashville’s 4-3 win in St. Louis to take a 1-0 lead in their second round series with the Blues, that statement may have been “Anything you can do, I can do better.” Wanna play a speed game? OK. How about a physical game? Yup. How about a comeback after surrendering a lead? Gotcha covered.
The flexibility of style of this Nashville Predators team is something we have seen in spurts over Peter Laviolette’s tenure in Music City, but this version of the Preds seems to have that down cold. As I wrote yesterday... I had a few concerns heading into game one…
- Believing your own press – Sometimes, when you shock the hockey world, you read a lot about how great you are… Confidence is good, confidence is sexy… over-confidence is lethal.
- Season-long inconsistency – This team has been maddeningly inconsistent throughout the season.
- Running into a hot goaltender – Ask the Minnesota Wild about this one.
Consider those basically answered… for now. But those points require vigilance.
The Predators were sparked by PK Subban who, after a series concentrating on negating the impact of one Jonathan Toews, was unleashed offensively, posting a goal and two assists. He was dangerous every time he touched the puck and his physicality drove the Blues to distraction and retaliation. This is the PK Subban Pred Nation expected to see… it was a glorious performance from the superstar blueliner.
However… this needs to be said… this was
not a stellar performance from the Nashville Predators.
Their possession time was down, their killer instinct was lacking a bit, they struggled to establish zone time at points… there are plenty of things to work on between games. I appreciate the postgame spin that Blues coach Mike Yeo was trying to put on it for his team, but… St. Louis blew a golden opportunity to put a chink in the armor of confidence and swagger this Predator team has right now… and they didn’t. It’s early, but this game may get looked back on as a costly miss.
So… let’s get to the GBU…
The Good -We heard lots of kvetching in the last few months of the season about adding too may resources with no “big” add. Well… this is why you add veteran role player presence at the trade deadline… so they can use their experience and win you a game. Vernon Fiddler got the GWG last night because he knew where to be and what to do when he got there. Good on ya Vern!
The Bad - The Preds laid back a bit after jumping out to a 3-1 lead… I know I am being a bit picky here, but this is a team that occasionally, still tries to protect a lead by going into a prevent style of play… it almost cost them their 1-0 lead in this series.
The Ugly - The hit on Kevin Fiala was ugly… very ugly, but I do feel the need to say it… it wasn’t really dirty. It was awkward and I wasn’t happy about the post hit crap from Bortuzzo, but it was a hockey play gone awry. I just hope Kevin is OK and not too badly hurt.
So… another franchise first as the Predators lead a second round series 1-0 for the first time in their history. Another chance to come back to Bridgestone Arena with a 2-0 lead and a stranglehold on a series… game two is Friday night at Scottrade Center.
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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 – Game one is tonight in Ottawa
WSH vs PIT – Game one is tonight in Washington
Western Conference
STL vs. NSH – NSH leads 1-0 - Game two is tomorrow in St. Louis
ANA vs. EDM – EDM leads 1-0 - Game two is tomorrow in Anaheim
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Playoff Random Notes
- Playoff Colin Wilson is back… Wilson’s first game saw him get his first of the playoffs.
- The way the Predators came out after the Fiala injury was a textbook example of how to do it.
- Key stat last night… the Predators won 62% of the faceoffs.
- The Milwaukee Admirals were eliminated from the AHL playoffs last night, so attention turns to who (if any) get called up as “black aces” for the rest of the Preds playoff run…
- Road teams are 2-0 so far as Edmonton waltzed into Anaheim and promptly smacked down the Ducks last night.
- The snark coming from the media is almost ridiculous regarding John Tortorella’s finalist status for the Jack Adams. I know he doesn't make the presses job easier, but last time I checked, the award is for coaching, not press relations. Tort's deserves to be there and frankly, a strong case can be made for him to win it.
- Two games in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight – 6pm – NYR @ OTT (CNBC). 7:30pm – PIT @ WSH – (NBCSN)
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