After a day to digest, a trip to Vancouver and a bit of avoidance of the Jets news cycle it's time to review game six and what happened. In summary I think it can be looked at like this- lucky first goal and strange second goal gave Preds the lead and they did what they could to hold on well and Rinne did his job.
The Jets had chances but they were limited ones and when the Jets tried to make things happen Rinne was there doing his thing. During the game there were times I found the Jets to be rather careless even though they were gaining the zone, and controlling play but much like what the Jets did to the Preds in game six, the shots were not quality ones.
If anyone is looking to beat a dead horse of the Myers Chiarot tandem I'll let you do so in the comments. I simply cannot go down that road again it's so obvious a problem that's affecting the team that I don't know what more can be said.
The stuff about the 8:30 pm start times seems a little overblown to me. It's a game, in your time zone and after playing 3 hours starting at 7pm a player is wide awake for a bit anyhow. Maybe there's a some disruption to the sleep routine but this is not like travel with three hour time zone jumps. That being said, for the fans and their experience it's a better time.
Paul Maurice is 2-0 in game sevens with a win in OT and one in regulation. It's been well documented and so have records of various players on both teams in the do or die game seven situations. Now what happened years ago with different teams with different coaches and players is probably irrelevant but experience does have some value. That being said the experience that really needs to come through is with the coaches. They need to keep the players loose and focused while helping them with the tactics to defeat the opposition.
Tha's probably the biggest criticism that can be leveled at Paul Maurice right now- despite two games where the team has come from behind to win or force OT, the Jets have not always adapted to what the Preds have thrown at them.
Take the defense pairs, while Morrissey and Trouba have played well they get about 85% of the ice time that Nashville's top pair gets. Having played less minutes this series the two could have the legs now to be played more against the better option.
Forward lines too can be mixed up more than swapping Ehlers and Connor or Perreualt with whoever. This is even more important when you can have last change at home too and take advantage of certain matchups. What if Laine and Wheeler were swapped for a few shifts or Scheifele and Stastny?
Connor Stastny Wheeler
Ehlers Schiefele Laine
Or
Connor Scheifele Laine
Ehlers Stastny Wheeler
*hat tip to the poster who DM'd me this idea*
Doing this in a rather unexpected manner tomorrow night could throw a curve at how the Preds match their forwards because it's obvious they will roll the top two pairs until they can sneak Weber and Irwin into play. If this is even in the playbook for Maurice he can't wait until he's down two goals with 20 minutes to play- he needs to make his read as fast and well as he wants his players to during a game.
A game seven is no different than any other playoff game other than it is final- it is the only game that ends a series no matter what. The Jets in two games this series, one to win it and the other to put stranglehold at 3-1 have not been their best. The Preds have played their best in those games and tomorrow night there can be no second guessing of effort and execution.
This is where the Preds probably have their advantage aside from being on home ice- when they have needed to win they have played well enough to do so and Rinne has been solid. Now it's the Jets turn to flip the table the only question that matters is if they can.