Bridgestone Arena was rocking last night as the Nashville Predators got back into their first round series with Carolina on the strength of a 5-4 double overtime win as the Predators made the Hurricanes pay for their undisciplined play. And to make it worse… in the post-game presser, Hurricane’s coach Rod Brind’Amour attempted to excuse his team’s failure by… wait for it…

Blaming the referees.

Wow… the Bunch of Jerks has turned into a Bunch of Whiners.

As a longtime fan of Brind’Amour, both as a player and a coach, I was disappointed in the lack of accountability this coach is driving in his players. I get it… he is trying to work the refs, it happens in the playoffs. He is really trying to get the officials to overlook his team’s clear lack of discipline.

A head coach protecting his players is a good thing, but something about his whining just rubbed this observer the wrong way. I hope the officials in tomorrow’s game do not reward this… this just facilitates the “we got to even the number of calls up” thinking that got Tim Peel in trouble earlier this season.

No coach… you are not “fighting the refs.” Your team is taking silly penalties at inopportune times. Pred Nation is used to this… because we have watched it for years. The Hurricanes have way too much skill to go here.

So, on the ice the big guys needed to step up… and step up they did. Both Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen played with a fire in their belly and were rewarded for their efforts. Both scored, both were dangerous for most of the game and both showed the kind of drive that they need to build on.

For 95 minutes, the series hung in the balance for the Preds in a tight, back and forth affair in front of a raucous crowd in Smashville, standing for most of the game, roaring at every hit, willing their team to do better.

And it was glorious!

Game four is tomorrow at 130pm. A tight turnaround after a double overtime thriller. Rest your voices Smashville… the boys will need you even more tomorrow.

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Random Notes – Presented by

- Playoff Update - The Predators train their series with Carolina 2-1 with game 4 tomorrow in Smashville.

-Big Boys - Seeing Duchene and Johansen step up was huge for the Predators and key to the Preds chances.

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