How do you mend a broken power play?

That is just one of the big questions on Pred Nation’s mind in surveying the wreckage of last night’s loss to the Ottawa Senators… the other big question is why this team seems to have trouble getting it going in the first period. No one seems to have an answer… except for Pred’s radio play by play man Tom Callahan... on the post-game show last night, he suggested making the pre-game skate a full contact scrimmage… then tell the players that the beginning of the game is actually the second period. He seemed to be only half-kidding.

The flat starts are bad, the power play is worse... and flat is the word that works to describe it... flat feet, flat passing and no creativity.

There is a book on how to disrupt the Preds’ punchless power play, overplay, clog the passing lanes and take advantage of the Preds tendency to move the puck without moving their feet. Ottawa made it look easy last night, preying on the Pred’s “pass first, pass often” mentality. They were well prepared, knowing exactly what Nashville would do, and when they would do it. You could make a case that the Sens had the better scoring opportunities on the Predators power play last night.

It’s time to simplify... again.

The Predators are a much better team when they play north/south hockey. When the team gets too fancy, in skating, in passing, it just doesn’t do well. When this team outworks their opponent, the result is normally good. Want an example? Last Saturday night against Boston… the team skated hard and forechecked like madmen for the entire game. That is the effort needed if this team is to make the playoffs… and avoid San Jose or Detroit in the first round…

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The Predators practice this morning before heading to Detroit for Wednesday’s game against the Wings.

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I was incredibly impressed with the Senators solid play last night... especially in how they worked the boards. Not very many pucks got by them on the boards.

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Reviving a tradition that I used to do on a old Pred message board, it’s…

The “Where We Stand” Update

Going into tonight’s play the Predators are ...

- Tied with Los Angeles for 11th in the Western Conference with 57 points… the Kings have two games in hand over the Nashville. The Predators have two games remaining with the Kings (3/16 @ LA, 3/28)
- Two points behind 10th place Minnesota, the Wild have two games in hand. The Predators have one game remaining against the Wild (4/10 @ MIN)
- Four points behind 9th place Anaheim, Nashville has one game in hand. The Predators have two games remaining against Anaheim (3/18 @ ANA, 3/24)
- Five points behind the three teams tied for 6th, Edmonton, Vancouver and Columbus. The Oilers and Canucks have one game in hand. The Predators have one game remaining against the Oilers (3/3), three against Columbus (3/5, 3/31 @ CBJ, 4/4), the season series with Vancouver is complete.
- Six points behind 5th place Dallas, the Stars have one game in hand. The season series with Dallas is complete.

Tonight’s Impact Games
- Vancouver @ Calgary – The Flames are nine points up in the Northwest and control their destiny… a Calgary win in regulation helps the Predators chances and evens up the games played with Vancouver.
- Edmonton @ San Jose – The Sharks are trying to right the ship and hold off a hard charging Red Wing team for the conference lead, a Shark win in regulation is good for the Preds and evens up the games played with Edmonton.

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Join Brandon Felder and me for the fastest hour in radio… HockeyBuzz Radio, Monday’s at 6pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR, you can listen online at www.wnsr.com or you can download the podcast of the show at www.hockeybuzzradio.com

On the next HBR, we'll talk to NBC/Versus play-by-play man Doc Emrick and have a full review of the week that was in Predator hockey. We’ll review the prep hockey state playoffs and we’ll preview the upcoming week. We're also efforting a special guest That I can't talk about... yet. :-)

Also... don't forget to check out www.hockeybuzzradio.com for updates and links to more hockey and Predator information. We also have a section called "Our House" chock full of pictures from recent games... some on the ice, but mostly of the fans... Be on the lookout for the HBR photographer at Predator home games and you too could be on hockeybuzzradio.com