It's playoff time again. The Preds face Anaheim in the western quarterfinals starting tonight in Anaheim. The Preds won the season series 3-1, scoring at least 4 goals in each contest. Good sign? I think so. Also it looks as if Anaheim's goalie could be former Predator Dan Ellis because of injuries and #1 goalie Jonas Hiller suffering from vertigo. If that is the case, the advantage goes to the Predator forwards who know where to shoot against Ellis, due to all the practice time spent with him while a Predator.
As far as what to watch for, this series boils down to one thing in my opinion. Anaheim has one of the top 3 lines in all of hockey(Getzlaf, Ryan and Perry). They are good and they log a lot of ice time. Can the Preds manage them? Yes, especially when Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are on the ice against them. On games in Nashville, the Preds get last line change and can match Weber/Suter against them at any time. While in Anaheim, can Cody Franson/Shane O'Brien and Kevin Klein/Jonathon Blum hold their own until the Preds can dump the puck and get Weber/Suter on the ice against Getzlaf/Perry/Ryan? The good news is if they do slip up, the Preds have Pekka Rinne as the last line of defense as well.
My Prediction- Preds in 6 games. If the Preds can pick off game 1 or 2 in Anaheim, they are in great shape. Any games in Nashville should be wins for the Preds because they get last line change and can neutralize Anaheim's top line. Anaheim's defense allowed the Preds an average of 4.5 goals in their 4 matchups this year. Pekka Rinne and the boys on defense should win any game where they hold Anaheim to 2 goals or less, which they are very capable of doing. 9;30 tonight can't get here soon enough.
Let's go Preds!!!!!!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment