Game day dawns in Pred Nation. With Wednesday night’s clunker in the rear view mirror, anxiousness and excitement mingle as the opportunity to take back the momentum in this series is on the line, but history weighs heavy…
- Never winning more than three games in a series
- Never holding a more than one game lead in a series
- Never winning a game five in a series
- Never winning a playoff series
There’s lots of “nevers” there, a lot of nevers that need to go away for this franchise to make the next step in its evolution.
The war on the ice is one issue but the war of words off the ice is another. That war escalated yesterday at Predators practice right before they left for the west coast. The normally even tempered Barry Trotz showed some real fire in responding to inquiries about Jarkko Rutuu’s late hit on Martin Erat, pointing out that losing Erat for tonight’s game is a far greater loss. Bryan Mullen quotes the coach in today’s Tennessean “He’s (Rutuu) a five minute player for them. And we lose a top guy.”
After the team had already left for Anaheim, word came down that Rutuu was suspended for game five… Colin Campbell’s Magic 8 Ball of Justice seemed to get one right, for all the good it does the Predators. That makes two suspensions for Bob Murray’s Kindly Band of Choirboys in this series, makes you wonder what they will do for an encore.
The Predators have overcome injuries all season, dealing with a long IR list has become the order of the day for Nashville. Certainly, no one knows how long Erat is on the shelf, but the bigger question is… who replaces Erat in the lineup?
Is it Colin Wilson? Wilson has been cooling his heels on the healthy scratch list for the entire series, after playing in all 82 games of the regular season. He has seemed to really struggle with the decision, but lately has come around to the fact that he has to step his game up. Is all the pent-up frustration at not playing ready to be released in a furious return to the ice to prove to his coach that he has what it takes?
Or, is it JP Dumont? The veteran winger has spent most of the season in Coach Trotz’s doghouse for reasons that have never really been clearly stated, quotes from GM David Poile and the coaching staff has indicated a general unhappiness with his play with little specifics. It is my observation that JP just hasn’t been the same player since Alexandre Burrow’s cheap shot on him back in early December of 2008. The team probably needs to replace a veteran with a veteran and this could be JP’s “Willis Reed” moment, returning to the lineup to bring leadership and a scorer’s touch to a team that will need it.
So many questions to be answered tonight at Honda Center, game time is 9pm CDT with coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.9 the Buzz.
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Random Notes
- Sunday’s game six start time is set for 5pm… so much for my Easter dinner… :-)
- The inevitable questions about overwork are coming out after Pekka Rinne’s less than stellar performance in these playoffs. It’s too easy to lay it at his feet, especially Wednesday night’s loss. It was easily the worst defensive performance of the year from the Predators blueline. I cannot recall a time where Rinne hasn’t followed a sub-par performance with a stellar one. Expect Rinne to be huge tonight.
- The chess match between Randy Carlyle and Barry Trotz continues, each coach has moved and counter-moved well. How will Barry Trotz try to address the size issue that Carlyle created in game four with his lineup?
- Chicago pulled to within 3-2 last night with a thorough spanking of Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks last night. Sticks are being gripped a little tighter and the Vancouver media is losing its mind over a suddenly tight series and an even tighter Canuck team. This should be fun to watch!
- Duncan Keith simply had a monster game last night, 2 goals, 2 assists on 8 shots. Also, a Marian Hossa sighting as well… all good news for 'Hawk fans looking for a miracle.
- It’s been over 36 hours since the Phoenix/Detroit series has been completed… and the much ballyhooed announcement hasn’t happened and there is no sign of moving vans in the desert… All I know is that if Eklund broke that kind of story, the MSM would be hammering him for being irresponsible … but since the MSM broke the story, I guess it’s OK for them to make stuff up… I’m just sayin’…
- Whoda thunk it? Can anyone win a home game in the Montreal / Boston series?
- San Jose made a statement last night against LA, and the statement was “You
are the weakest link, goodbye!” The Sharks will finish this one off in five.
- Tonight’s playoff schedule – Buffalo @ Philadelphia – Series tied 2-2, 6:30pm CDT (Versus, TSN), Nashville @ Anaheim – Series tied 2-2, 9pm CDT (FS-TN, Versus, TSN)
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