First off… Happy Mother’s Day! Even though my mom has been gone for quite a few years, she always remains with me in my heart. I miss you Mom! Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s and thanks for all you do for your families! Including giving up a piece of your day for playoff hockey!! :-)
It’s a Game Two game night in Anaheim as the Ducks and Predators get busy at 6:30pm CT. Nashville looks to take two on the left coast and come back to the friendly confines of Bridgestone Arena with a 2-0 series lead for the second time in this playoff season. The Preds came out with energy in game one, survived a gut punch, took the lead, survived an inevitable Anaheim push and took the win in OT.
So, how can Nashville win Game Two? First key? Discipline..
Look, we know the Ducks, we know their game. Bring the body between the whistles, then bring the dirty after them. They can’t help it… it is in their DNA. The Ducks will continue the post-whistle tactics… wanna know why??? They work. They frustrate a team, those post-whistle tactics can knock an opponent off their game trying to get penalties vs. trying to keep the attack focused forward. It has been a successful strategy for this team for years. The Predators need to not succumb to them. Not playing into their strategy is one thing but there is a second part to that… make them pay on the scoreboard. An 0-5 power play won’t cut it… especially when you have a minute an half of 5-on-3.
A large part of discipline is the giveaways, Nashville was way too loose with the puck, keep that level of puck management going forward in this series and the Predators will not be moving forward into any kind of June hockey.
Another key has got to be face offs. Only Ryan Johansen won over 50% of his face offs on Friday night, taking 60%. Mike Fisher really struggled in the dot, winning only 33% of his draws. Nashville’s offense is predicated on possession and while their poor performance in this area didn’t cost them the game… it will as it was a critical missing piece to the Predators game that cost them a goal in the third period.
The last key to leverage is energy. Nashville was the fresher team and it showed, especially in overtime. After over 5800 air miles in the second round and not having more than a day between games since game 3, Anaheim did show some fatigue, especially in the overtime period. The Preds need to leverage that for all its worth as the Ducks will wear down. Continue to initiate the physicality and bring the energy and the Nashville Predators will be in a position to take a 2-0 series lead.
Game time is 6:30pm… pregame begins with Predators Playoffs Tonight at 3pm central on 102.5 the Game, Predators Pregame starts at 5:30 pm and game coverage at 6:30pm on the Predators Radio Network. TV coverage will be on NBCSN starting at 6:30pm.
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Conference Final Reset
Eastern Conference
PIT vs. OTT – OTT leads 1-0 – Game two tomorrow in Pittsburgh
Western Conference
ANA vs. NSH – NSH leads 1-0 – Game two tonight in Anaheim.
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Playoff Random Notes
- Looking for a much better Game Two from the Predators than the one we saw in St. Louis.
- Out of the 23 players that have played in this playoff season, 15 of them have scored a goal and 19 of them have posted at least a point. That, my friends, is across the board contributions…
- A surprising name is missing from the scoresheet so far... Mike Fisher. He will not be kept down forever.
- This team continues to stay on message… nothing is done, more work to do, forget game one… all messages that came out yesterday.
- Playoff ticket prices have become a thing all of a sudden… the gate rate is very high for single game tickets in Smashville for the WCF… this is nothing new, the Predators franchise believes in rewarding their season ticket holders with benefits like an almost 50% reduction off the gate rate for playoff tickets. Frankly, it’s the right thing to do for your season ticket holders. The best way to get cheaper tickets? Become a season ticket holder...
- My heavens… the Twitter whining about NBC’s NHL coverage got really stupid yesterday. Game time was scheduled for 6pm… puck drop wasn’t scheduled until close to 6:20pm… coverage picked up at 6:20-ish… and it appeared that the game was held up in order for NBC to join it… not a single second of game action was missed… but the whining on Twitter about it was unbelievable.
- The other whining that you see on social media and in some opinion pieces is about the terrible quality of the final four teams. Good lord… in the final four there is a division champion and two teams that placed second in their division including the defending Stanley Cup Champ… get a grip. We know, we know... you guys don't like "outsiders" crashing your party in late May... deal with it.
- Someone forgot to tell the Ottawa Senators that the Stanley Cup Final has already been played in the second round.
- Bobby Ryan came up HUGE in OT last night… the Senators are not going to go down easy.
- One game in the NHL tonight – 6:30pm - NSH @ ANA (NBCSN)
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