Yesterday both the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators took time out of their day to participate in media day. Players, coaches, and general managers were made available and answered questions. Here's a quick recap of some of that.
Jim Rutherford spoke about the league and their ability to call their product.
I understand wanting the rule book being called. I don't understand why the Penguins general manager would change anything about their approach. They are the first team since 2009 to go to back to back Stanley Cup Final and it is directly the result of not finding "one or two guys" who can't play or keep pace with the other members of the team. Hopefully it's a bluff. Tactically it makes zero sense to change what has been overwhelmingly successful for the team. If you recall Rutherford did go with that approach in 2014-15 when he intentionally added Nick Spaling to the Hornqvist deal and voluntarily added Max Lapierre. Craig Adams was still a regular as well. It wasn't until the commitment to speed and skill when the Penguins turned into the Penguins as we know them right now.
Getting "one or two guys" isn't going to stop teams from going after Crosby. It's just going to result in worse hockey players on your own team. Only the league can change how things are called. Players don't police this stuff, they ramp it up. Words are only words, hopefully these ones aren't acted on.
Evgeni Malkin is always a good quote and he was yesterday as well
The good news for Geno and the Penguins is that the Predators do not have four Erik Karlssons. They do have four really good defenders, though.
There was also
"Sid score goal, I want goal. Sid score another goal, I want another. Sid get hat trick, (Sid) stop!!"
Phil Kessel through some shade at both the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens on Sunday
At least Toronto was a young and upcoming team who traded their star winger for futures. Montreal legitimately thought the return they got for Subban would make them a better team right now. The Weber for Subban trade is an all-time terrible trade if you are viewing it from a Montreal standpoint and it only gets worse each year.
Mike Sullivan spoke and one of the things he said was that Patric Hornqvist will be a game-time decision for Game 1. Yesterday Hornqvist was skating with the fourth line.
Here is what things looked like today at practice
Here is a look at how the Nashville Predators function as a team courtesy of both Jack Han and Jesse Marshall.
First up is how the Predators are very aggressive in the defensive zone. They look to outnumber a player so that they either eat the puck or commit a meaningless chip play that goes right back to another Nashville player
Pittsburgh is a team that is well equipped to handle that kind of pressure. They are one of the fastest teams in the league and they have some really great passing players who can and will pass it outside of the small area the Predators commit themselves to. Don't get me wrong Nashville is very good at this and they will find some success. I just think that the Penguins forward group will be the best the Predators have faced during their postseason run.
Here is an example on how the Penguins utilized their F3 based on what the other team was doing. This is how the series winning goal was scored against Ottawa
Jesse Marshall has taken the time to preview each team the Penguins have faced so far in these playoffs. The Nashville Predators were no exception. Here is his explanation on how the Predators 1-3-1 is not the same as Ottawa's.
The Predators are more aggressive in the neutral zone than the Senators were. Both 1-3-1's are designed to eliminate controlled entries. I find that the Predators are looking to create turnovers for transition where the Senators were content hanging back and winning 1-0. If I were playing the Penguins I would definitely utilize pressure in order to force their defensemen into mistakes. If you take time and space away from them they will be prone to turn the puck over. On two of the pairings you have a left handed player playing the right side. You might as well attack the weakest part of the team.
Who will the Predators use PK Subban against? That is clearly the top pairing as Travis Yost outlines
Teams haven't done well against the Ellis-Subban pairing while the pairing of Ekholm-Josi pairing has found themselves defending more times than not. The Subban pairing can't take on both the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin lines at the same time. I think there is success to be found against Ekholm-Josi given that the Penguins have to all-world centers.
Here is another series breakdown from The Hockey News and Dom Luszczyszyn
It will be fun to see the great forward/mediocre defense approach of the Penguins does against the mediocre forwards/great defense approach of the Predators.
Today's morning skate was optional so here were the line combos from yesterday
Jake Guentzel hasn't scored in a quite a while even though he still leads the playoffs with nine goals. He could potentially be scratched for the first time these playoffs. Conor Sheary went through a demotion and came back with vengeance in Game 7. Perhaps that is the plan with Guentzel, but it isn't looking that way
It's too bad that Hagelin's foot hasn't quite healed. His speed is a great component in the lineup and he just hasn't been the same player.
Patric Hornqvist was skating on the fourth line and taking first power play reps. Mike Sullivan confirmed this morning that he will indeed be making his return to the lineup tonight.
The wait is over. The puck will drop tonight. One team will be closer to a repeat championship and the other team one win closer to their city's first ever Stanley Cup.
Thanks for reading!
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