The Preds began their 2010-2011 season with a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. 14,627 looked on at Bridgestone Arena as the Preds attempted a late game comeback only to watch it be squashed by an Erik Cole empty netter.
Felder’s Fickle Five:
1.
Some Shining New Faces - I was pretty impressed with a couple of newer faces out there. Ryan Parent really stood out to me. Sergei Kostitsyn had his moments but didn't seem as timid as I expected. Blake Geoffrion did well in the faceoff dot against some tough competition but needs to get that first puck on net. Lastly, Ryan Ellis is still finding his game but seems that he could be an offensive force soon enough.
2.
Is It Too Early To Talk About the Man Advantage? - Maybe it is. I realize they are trying new things and different schemes. So for now I'll call it growing pains but it sure looked like quite a few of the same old troubles. Difficulty gaining the offensive zone? Check. Dump and chase to get said zone? Check. Difficulty possessing the puck for an extended period of time? Check. Oh well, it's still pre-season I guess.
3.
The Same Old Rinne - Doesn't seem the man has even taken a day off. Had a couple of brilliant stops and seemed in rhythm all game. O'Sullivan made a nice move to beat Peks on the breakaway so I can't fault him on that one. Pred fans should be encouraged by the stellar performance Mr. Rinne put up tonight.
4.
Learning the New Roles - If there is one thing I don't like about pre-season it's that many lines feel forced and it's difficult for some players to go to new roles. I don't have a specific example tonight, but the amount of forced passes and sheer difficulty controlling the puck at times can easily be attributed to guys not know line mates that well yet.
5.
The Nitty Gritty Stats - Preds finished the game outshooting the Canes 28-26. They outhit Carolina 23-15. I really love the fact that they had 12 takeaways, 13 blocked shots, and a 61% winning percentage in the faceoff dot.
Other Notes:
* Tonight’s scratches came from only the Carolina bench. Zach Boychuk, Joni Pitkanen, Chad LaRose and Mike Murphy took a seat for the Canes. There were no scratches for the Predators.
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1ST PERIOD
* 15:58 to go and for the first of many times this year Patric Hornqvist does dirty work in the crease and gets on the opponents nerves by his net presence. Pre-season or not he's gonna piss someone off.
* 13:34 to go and linesman Mark Shewchyk takes a puck to the side of his face as Carolina attempts to clear the puck up ice. The game was stopped and Shewchyk went to the locker room for treatment. The game now has two referees and just one linesman.
* GOAL for NASHVILLE - 10:42 to go. J.P. Dumont finds the upper 90 high stick side on Justin Peters and gets the pre-season started off right for Nashville. A laser shot from the right faceoff dot. Dumont simply waited for Peters to drop into the butterfly and then wristed a quick one up and in. The goal was unassisted and occurred just after Marcel Goc almost scored on an empty net. Dumont (1) unassisted. Preds lead 1-0.
* 1:38 to go. Well, Pekka may or may not even need pre-season. The Canes are on a power play and get a player on the back door with wide open net and time. Drayson Bowman hesitates then fires low and Rinne dives back to the opposite post and makes a stellar save. This was the kind of save that would've ended up on highlight reels come regular season. Seems he's ready to go when it comes to show-stopping saves.
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END OF THE 1ST PERIOD – NSH: 1 CAR: 0 Positives - Pekka is playing like he hasn't missed a single beat. Out hitting the Canes 10-6
Negatives - Carolina leads the shots on goal 9-7. The man advantage seemed a bit disorganized on their first attempt so of course I'm looking to see more from them on the next opportunity.
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2ND PERIOD
* GOAL for CAROLINA - 15:14 to go. Cody Franson's stick breaks as he attempts to let go of a slap shot from the point. The puck comes back up ice quickly as Zac Dalpe finds Patrick O'Sullivan streaking towards the Preds end. O'Sullivan cuts in on a breakaway as Franson gets a new stick. He fakes a deke glove side then wires the puck in mid-level stick side past Rinne. Just a fluke play with Franson's stick that turns into a goal at the other end of the ice. O'Sullivan (1) from Dalpe (1). We are tied up at 1.
* 8:29 to go and the scheduled goaltender switch occurs. Mark Dekanich will enter the pipes while Rinne will exit with 17 saves on 18 shots against.
* POWER PLAY GOAL for CAROLINA - 4:26 to go. The Canes punch the puck towards the net from the point with an Eric Staal shot. Dekanich corrals int at first but the puck drops down just in front of him as Sergei Samsonov strides in. He quickly taps the rebound stick side and the puck trickles past Dex and into the net for the Canes go ahead goal. Samsonov from Staal. Canes now have the 2-1 lead.
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END OF THE 2ND PERIOD – NSH: 1 CAR: 2 Positives - Ryan Parent has looked really solid thus far. Preds have registered 10 takeaways.
Negatives - Still behind Carolina in shots on goal 22-17.
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3RD PERIOD
* The biggest play of the 3rd was likely a missed goal by Taylor Beck on the man advantage. That sums up the extent of how much the man advantage has improved thus far.
* 1:20 to go and Mark Dekanich heads to the bench for the extra attacker.
* EMPTY NET GOAL for CAROLINA - 37.5 to go. Erik Cole seals this one by shooting the puck down ice and getting his own rebound from the ends boards. Carolina wins 3-1.
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FINAL SCORE – NSH - 1 CAR - 3.
My Three Stars:
1.
Samsonov - 1 game winning goal, 2 SOG, and 1 takeaway.
2.
Peters - 27 saves on 28 shots against.
3.
Dumont - 1 goal, 2 SOG, 1 hit, and 2 takeaways.
Goalie Grades: A/A- – The starting goaltender tonight was Pekka Rinne. A little less than halfway thru the 2nd period Mark Dekanich replaced him as scheduled. I felt both goaltenders played very well. Rinne certainly looked like he was in regular season form as opposed to pre-season. Dekanich played well but still seemed to be finding his groove. Rinne stopped 17 of 18 shots against while Dex stopped 6 of 7 shots against.
Quotes:
Brandon Felder - "O'Sullivan seemed to fake a deke glove side. Is that what you saw or something different?"
Pekka Rinne - "He's a pretty nifty player. He made a good shot. He made a little deke and then moved the puck to his forehand. You want to make those saves, you want to make a save every time, but that was a good shot."
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Felder - "When you look at the power play, what kind of things are you guys trying to do differently to ensure better success?"
J.P. Dumont - "It's more like puck retrieval. At the end we had some open nets to tie the game, we tried to create more shots that's for sure, and have a net presence. Our puck retrieval was actually pretty good tonight. We tried to be first on the puck and help on faceoffs. Starting with the puck last year was… not a bad thing but we had a hard time on the faceoffs and jumping in to help. Everybody was jumping in to help so that was a big plus for us tonight."
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Felder - "Ryan Parent seemed to have a strong game. Are you happy with his progression since he last wore a Preds uniform?"
Barry Trotz - "We haven't seen Ryan for awhile. I think we are getting to re-know the things that Ryan is capable of doing. There's some things that I liked about him. He competed real hard. In terms of some of the instinctive things that he does defensively are still there. Offensively your not gonna see that much."
Final Thoughts:
It was a pre-season game and it showed at times. Things are getting worked out for the Preds but the early signs are positive I would say. While I still don't know of another team that utilizes the dump and chase on the man advantage as much as Nashville does, they did miss a couple of empty net chances during that time so at least they had some opportunities. I was impressed with a couple of D-men, while others were struggling quite a bit at various points. Overall, it was just nice to watch some hockey again in person...
The Predators next pre-season game is tomorrow night at Carolina. Start time is 6 pm CST. You should be able to listen to the game via the Hurricanes website.
Till the next time, take care friends.
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to [email protected] if you wish to contact me personally.
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