A rare extra day between hockey games in this contentious, rather nasty second round series between the Nashville Predators and the St. Louis Blues. If Mike Yeo was worried about “finding the hate… in this series… consider it found, but there are quite a few more things that need to be found for each team to get the results they want.
For St. Louis, it’s all about discipline and scoring. Every time the Blues have lost their discipline on the ice, the Predators have made them pay… whether it’s a silly penalty or not holding to their defensive scheme, almost every mistake the Blues have made has ended up in their net. Offensively, they haven’t gotten near enough traffic in front of the net and their Russian duo of Tarsenko and Sobotka have been effectively neutralized. It certainly isn’t a coincidence that Tarasenko’s best game was game two… a Blues win.
For Nashville, it is strong starts and effective physical play. Strong starts are more than just the first goal, even though that first goal has been critical for Nashville, it has allowed the Predators to continue to attack and kept St. Louis on their heels. But a strong start has also been handling the initial salvos from the Blues, collapsing back, clearing the slot and maintaining Pekka Rinne’s vision. The Predators, for the most part, haven’t fallen for the Blues attempts to get under their skin, they have initiated the physical play, Austin Watson has been a wrecking ball, PK Subban has taken his physical game up to another level, Mike Fisher has been a constant physical presence.
The Predators have led for over 124 minutes of the 240 minutes played in ths series, the Blues have led for 3:51... that’s it…
It may all come down to a key for both teams…possession. Nashville, for the most part has dominated in the faceoff circle and done a very good job on their quick-up, speed game… quick, short passes have led to unexpected scoring chances that have the Blues on their heels. The only game where Nashville hasn’t dominated in this area… yup… you guessed it… game two.
The Predators practice this morning before heading to St. Louis this afternoon. A quick check of Ticketmaster shows plenty of seats available if you are looking to make a quick five hour drive to the Gateway City.
Game five is 7pm tomorrow night.
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Last night’s SlapShot Radio with special guest co-host Eric Nystrom, the radio Voice of the Ottawa Senators Gord Wilson and NHL on NBC’s Kenny Albert.
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Round Two Reset
Eastern Conference
NYR vs OTT – OTT leads 2-1 - Game four is tonight in New York
WSH vs PIT – PIT leads 3-1 - Game five is Saturday in Washington
Western Conference
STL vs. NSH – NSH leads 3-1 - Game five is tomorrow night in St. Louis
ANA vs. EDM – Series is tied 2-2 - Game five is tomorrow night in Anaheim
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Playoff Random Notes
- It’s time for the regular springtime ritual… folks discovering what a great hockey town Nashville is. For ten of the last 13 springs, we have seen the articles, patting us on the head. Believe me, we appreciate it, we know what we have here… and by looking at the traffic, you can tell that more people every day figure out what a great place this is.
- The Predators are now up to #2 in the ESPN Power Rankings, calling Nashville “a real Stanley Cup threat.… [shudder]
- So, quotes yesterday indicate that the St. Louis Blues have another level that we haven’t seen yet… hmmm… if I’m a Blues fan my question immediately is “what are you waiting for?…
- Anaheim has tied up their series with Edmonton, winning both games in Oil Country… the question now becomes, will a home team win in this series?
- That being said… this one looks a LOT like last year’s first round series with Nashville… but can Edmonton pull it off? Or does Anaheim use the lessons from last season to adjust?
- Wow… the Washington Capitals can’t buy a goal… they’ve gotten breaks like crazy in this series but can’t convert… I wonder what changes come to DC after this one is done.
- One game in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight – 6:30pm – OTT @ NYR (NBCSN).
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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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