The Red Wings got a fortunate non-call and propelled themselves to a 1-0 series lead behind their 3-1 victory tonight.
Felder’s Frustrated Five:
1. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers - These mistakes cost the Preds the game and if they continue to turn the puck over in their own end the series will be over much sooner then anticipated. The final tally on the night was a combined 14 giveaways.
2. Poor Dan Ellis – Not only does Dan put in a great performance, but it goes unrewarded as costly errors by teammates result in Detroit goals. The good sign is just how strong Dan did play in net. If he continues to play this way he could give the Red Wings fits. That is of course, if the turnovers stop.
3. Powerplay – I can’t remember the last time I saw our powerplay look good against a quality penalty kill. For this team, there is no power, and the play is not very good looking either on the man advantage. The guys had 4 opportunities with a total of 5:40 on the PP and failed to convert even once. In the playoffs, 4 chances will usually be all you get, so if you can’t start converting, you can start planning your golf outings.
4. Passing – There were way too many errant passes that were headed to no one. Not only were some of the passes sloppy, quite a few didn’t make sense. A handful of times we would see the puck sent to the center of the ice in front of Hasek to find zero Preds around that area. This just kills off our pressure each time and is very frustrating to watch.
5. Faceoffs – Overall we did ok, but Jason Arnott has got to pick it up from this point forward. 5 wins and 14 losses on the faceoff just hurts because your top line starts off without the puck and we already know how hard it is to get the puck from the Red Wings in the 1st place.
Other Notes:
• The scratches tonight for Nashville were Ville Koistinen, Kevin Klein, David Legwand, and Darcy Hordichuk. Also, to my great pleasure, no Kirk Maltby. (Sorry Red Wing fans, I’ll always be bitter)
• The nerves are in full force and I just can’t wait. Finally, the drop of the puck….
• Vern is apparently ready to as he and Mikael Samuelsson start the pushing before the puck was even dropped.
• Real quality early pressure on Detroit as a couple line changes occur with the Preds camped in the Red Wing end. This series of events led to Detroit taking the 1st penalty of the series as Lidstrom gets called for holding.
• My pet peeve with our PP shines again as it takes us at least the 1st minute of the man advantage just to set up in the Detroit end.
• Detroit tallies first after a good keep in at the blueline Kronwall. Radek Bonk really hurts us as he had the puck on his stick and gave it right to Franzen in front of Ellis. That kind of play is what costs you vs the Red Wings. You can’t afford to turn the puck over in your own end, and especially not right in front of your goalie.
• Bonk (the league worst in +/- in the NHL) not only leaves his goalie out to dry, he also took the hooking penalty before this play. This type of play should get you scratched. Also, this makes me wish for an even faster recovery for David Legwand. Come on medical staff, let the man play the game…
• 6:00 to go and the Preds get their 2nd powerplay opportunity. The Preds once again shorten their man advantage by taking a penalty.
• Whoever the director of this FSN South broadcast is, I have to say they have botched the 1st period. Way too many funky shots that are not following the action plus too many quick cuts to those funky shots. Pete and Terry were real good as always, but the images from the TV were not directed very well.
• I think the nerves are beginning to wear off a bit thankfully. The guys need to get their energy up for the 2nd and come out flying. We can’t afford a flat start to any periods in the playoffs.
• Preds draw a penalty with 40 seconds remaining in the 1st. This will be their 3rd PP opportunity. The period ends with no further scoring and the Preds will carry their man advantage over to the 2nd period.
• My biggest complaint from the 1st, other than Bonk’s mishap, would have to be the bad passing the Preds have done. Too often they would send to puck to no one and just give the puck to a team that already hangs onto it enough as is.
• Some very close calls midway thru the 2nd here. Some posts hit, a well taken penalty by Zanon otherwise Filppula scores. Just crazy with the Red Wings on the powerplay and the Preds very fortunate to come out unscathed for the time being.
• Scott Nichol will miss the rest of the game with a left arm injury. If Scooter will be out more than this game alone then the pressure on our centers is ramped up even higher until Leggy gets back. That is a key faceoff guy gone.
• Draper keeps getting dangerously close to a goaltender interference call. He keeps parking himself behind Dan Ellis and I’m a bit surprised he continues to get away with it. Ryan Suter was definitely showing his displeasure with it.
• Off a giveaway at the blueline by Chelios, the puck is left for Greg Zanon. The shot stays on the ice, Tootoo was screening Dom and jumped in time to deflect the puck and let it sail in the net 5 hole on Hasek. Tied at 1. Tootoo officially gets the goal which just has to get under the skin of Detroit fans. A strong game from Double Deuce thus far.
• 2nd period ends, and the Preds battle back into things and after withstanding the Red Wing PP, Tootoo tallies to take things even into the 3rd.
• Fids gets a 2v1 and hits the outside of the post. The pressure is building for Detroit and the lack of crowd noise only strengthens that statement.
• Datsyuk and Zetterberg team up on yet another Pred turnover and give the Red Wings the 2-1 lead with 13:00 remaining. Weber failed to control the puck and clear it out. Zetterberg lifted his shot over Zanon’s stick and Dan was unable to get back to that post in time to make the save.
• My 1st, and hopefully only, complaint of a ref call tonight. Erat gets tagged for hooking, yet Radulov gets dragged down earlier in the play with no call on Detroit there. The plays were similar, and I felt (as did Terry Crisp) that the call was a bit weak for a playoff game.
• Kronwall commits a couple hockey sins. His hit on Rich Peverley was vicious in the fact that not only did he leave his feet (a big no no) he also went for Peverley’s head with the elbow. 2 minutes for elbowing goes to Kronwall and deservedly so.
• Another man advantage squandered. I know for a fact that the powerplay was a focus in practice this week, but it just isn’t working tonight, or for most of the regular season.
• Upon further review the camera crew of the FSN South team showed that Weber did in fact clear the blueline, but a gift from the linesman. The goal should have never happened and the play should have been whistled dead with an offsides. That’s a shame, but you have to fight though that stuff. I would expect an official complaint from the Preds to the league office. That won’t do much, but may guarantee a better crew for Saturday.
• An empty net goal seals the deal as Zetterberg tallies off a faceoff win by Draper.
My Three Stars:
1. Henrik Zetterberg
2. Dan Ellis
3. Johan Franzen
Goalie Grade:
A – The starting goaltender tonight was Dan Ellis. Plenty have had their doubts about Ellis, and everyone has also said that in order for the Preds to win the series Danny must play lights out. Dan played extremely well and if it weren’t for his teammates leaving him out to dry on the two Detroit goals who knows. Dan stopped 37 of the 39 Detroit shots he faced.
Ref Review:
F – The crew tonight was Paul “Devo” Devorski, Mike Leggo, Pierre Champoux, and Scott Driscoll. In the playoffs, I prefer (as most hockey fans do I think) refs to put away the whistle. Playoffs do NOT = powerplays in my opinion. I wrote the previous sentence before the game was even started. The spotty call on Erat and non-call on Rudy before that one stick out. Most importantly would be the offsides non-call that Detroit used to score the go ahead goal. That is an egregious non-call that immediately earns a crew a failing grade with the magnitude of the playoffs.
Final Thoughts:
You really hate to see a game possibly be decided by an officials error. Win or lose, you don’t really feel good about things ending up that way. If the offsides call had occurred, then who knows, we might be watching OT hockey instead of hearing the post-game show.
You have to credit the Red Wings for converting on the Pred mistakes. That is what great teams do, they make you pay for the errors you make.
The Preds will get a chance at revenge this Saturday at 1 pm. The game will be on NBC. I think this first game is a strong indication that the Preds will not be a pushover. Should be a long series regardless of the victor in the end. Till then, take care.
Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to [email protected] if you wish to contact me personally. 
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