The Preds take on the New York Islanders today in an afternoon matinee seeking to bring their record for the season to .500 and winning three in a row. This will be the true test as the Preds have capitalized on a weakened Kings team and an equally tired and streaky Wild and Sharks teams. The Isles have had a week’s rest and ready to rock and roll in Music City.
It is great to see the players buying into this system. I am interested to see how it compares to an equally defensive system that Trotz has implemented in Long Island.
The play of Jeannot and Sissons together has been great to see with them playing the body and having at least one hard pass from the right side to backdoor each game. Trenin continues to get high-quality chances but has failed to find the back of the net on a consistent basis. I believe this will change soon. Duchene is finding a way to take his chances and demonstrate the skill he has, while Johansen and Forsberg have really stepped up their play over the last two games. The defense is playing better with Fabbro, especially, coming out of his shell and taking more opportunities alongside the Captain.
The youth movement is here with Hynes and Poile appearing to stick to that mantra. Let’s hope this is the beginning of something fresh. There will continue to be growing pains, understandably so. But the small successes along the way make it all worth it.
All in all, I’ve been pleased with the play over the last couple of games. There are always things to critique, but the effort is developing and a manner of play is becoming evident. As I mentioned, today will be a great test for this team and I will be back with further analysis to discuss the result and overall play.