UPDATE - Jerred Smithson skated in today's morning skate and has proclaimed himself good to go for tonight's game... decision now rests with the coach.
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You do have to wonder about the President’s Trophy winner’s ability to seal the deal in this playoff season. Going into tonight’s game six at Bridgestone Arena, the Vancouver Canucks have had five opportunities to close out a series… their record in those games?
1-4.
Credit where it is due... they did come through when it most counted in game seven against the reigning Stanley Cup champs. Now, those wearing the green and blue shaded glasses will say “I’ll take that.” And they should… however… letting a team hang around in a series is a risky business. The Boston Bruins appear to have learned that lesson this season. When asked about any mounting pressure, the Canucks will slough it off, but it is there, and the Canadian media isn’t helping by continuing to use the “lack of killer instinct” mantra.
The media pressure is all on one side. In a lot of respects, the Preds are playing with house money and the Canucks have the expectations of no less than a Cup to call this a successful season. All bets are off should the Predators pull out a game six win, the pressure will be squarely on Vancouver. The good news for Canuck fans?
Been there, done that…
The Nashville Predators, on the other hand, have another kind of pressure on them. This team has traditionally thrived on the energy and the support of their home crowd… but so far in this series, it seems that has not been the case. The Preds appear to be trying too hard in their home rink, not having as much fun, seeming almost desperate to reward their home fans with a win.
That’s one storyline… pressure vs. pressure. Another is the injury situation. Nashville has lost Steve Sullivan, Jerred Smithson is listed as questionable for tonight, Nick Spaling was down for a bit in game 5, but did return and is expected to go tonight. Vancouver’s lost Mikael Sammuelsson who didn’t make the trip to Nashville and Ryan Kesler took a puck to the face Saturday night, got a few stitches, and came back to make the game close with a third period goal.
Ryan Kesler is simply a marvel… I have enjoyed watching his game for awhile, especially in last year’s Olympics however, seeing how he has taken this team on his back takes my respect for him to a new level. I will go ahead and say it… without Kesler, this series would be over, and Nashville would be waiting for the winner of Detroit/San Jose.
So… what needs to happen tonight for each team?
For Vancouver – The Canucks need to tighten up defensively. They have had way too many giveaways, way too many positional errors, way too many inappropriate pinches. They have hung Roberto Luongo out to dry on many different occasions. The other critical need for Vancouver is the Sedin twins, they need to start getting engaged in front of the net as they are spending entirely too much time on the perimeter. Their performance throughout these playoffs has not been up to par, and worse yet, they haven’t seemed recognized it. I keep seeing quotes talking about how well they are playing. Ummmm... OK. The Canucks may get by the Predators without their involvement… but that team needs the twins at the top of their game for the next round, if there is one for Vancouver.
For Nashville – It will be important for the team to use the energy in Bridgestone Arena wisely. It became apparent to me while watching a replay of game five, that the Predators were putting more pucks where they wanted to, which was not the case in games three and four. A lot more shots/passes were going wide, or high in those games, a sure sign that the players may be a tad over-amped. Bringing a more physical game will be important as the play of David Legwand and Joel Ward will certainly draw more defensive attention tonight. If that happens, it should free up some space for players like Mike Fisher, Sergei Kostitsyn and Martin Erat. They will need to take advantage of that space in order to force a game seven.
So… Who steps up? Does Vancouver finally show that killer instinct and get a little extra rest before the conference finals? or does the Nashville Predators continue to confound and force a game seven on Wednesday night back in rainy Vancouver?
Game time is 7pm at the Bridge… The Plaza Party (hosted by yours truly) begins at 4pm with live music, good food, cold beer and a car to smash for charity… what better way to get ready for game six? Also, I will be joining Greg Pogue for the WNSR Pre-Game Show on the rooftop at Rippy’s at 6pm. We’ll see you there!
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Random Notes
- A lot of post-game comments from the Vancouver locker room seemed to give the Predators no credit at all for their game five win. I’ll be interested to see if Nashville uses the lack of respect factor.
- Speaking of lack of respect, some columnists are really taking shots at the Predators supposed lack of talent. Face it, you don’t get to the NHL without talent. Do the Predators have a game changer? Maybe not on the forward lines, but I would answer yes… two of them…
- Wondering if the Green Men are making the trip for game six…
- I actually found myself rooting for Detroit last night - I know… I know… I feel so dirty… :-)
- You have got to give the Wings a lot of credit, for a ten minute period last night, they made the Sharks look like a squirt team. That was what I like to call the "We're the by-God Detroit Red Wings" moment. I still expect the Sharks to win the series, but Detroit is making it a whole lot more fun to watch.
- You do wonder if the same kind of pressure that is on Vancouver is starting to build on San Jose… and I also wonder how they will handle it. The Sharks have kind of flown under the radar all season, will the questions begin anew about the heart of this team? If Detroit wins Tuesday… count on it.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins are calmly waiting for the west to finish. Resting up, healing up. The long layoff shouldn’t benefit or hurt either team more than the other, but it will sure help the bumps and bruises and may improve the quality of the hockey in the upcoming ECF.
- Congratulations to the baby Preds, the Milwaukee Admirals sent their West Division Final series to a seventh game with a stirring 5-4 overtime win last night at the Bradley Center. Kelsey Wilson had the game winner. Game seven is tomorrow night. Another notable from this game, Preds blueline prospect Ryan Ellis had his first professional goal, opening the scoring for the Ad’s.
- Tonight’s playoff schedule – Vancouver @ Nashville – Canucks lead 3-2, 7pm CDT (Versus, CBC)
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
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COMING UP ON THE NEXT SLAPSHOT RADIO…
On Wednesday's show we'll be talking to the always outspoken Jeremy Roenick from Versus and Hockey Night in Canada Radio's Jeff Marek... We're either getting you ready for a game seven... or the conference finals... this week on SlapShot Radio, Wednesday night at 6 on SportsRadio 560 WNSR.
You can get check out our podcasts at
the SlapShot Radio podcast page.
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