Game 1 to Canucks 1-0

Had it not been for Pekka Rinne, the Preds would have lost 5-0 tonight or worse. In a game resembling the 1998-2002 Preds, it was a case of no offense and many shots on goal against the goaltender. Nashville will have to pick things up, especially on offense to have a chance in the series. For 2 1/2 periods last night, it was men(Vancouver) playing against boys(Nashville).

Other observations from Game 1:
* Kevin Klein had a defense breakdown like he was doing the first half of the year that led to the only goal of the game. Hope it is an isolated incident.
* Somebody please tell the Vesus channel play-by-play man that Kevin Klein is #8 and Jonathon Blum is #7. For most of the game he was announcing Blum as #7 and #8.
* I did enjoy the Versus broadcast team high praise for Pekka Rinne and Shea Weber.
* Martin Erat didn't look 100% healthy
* Patrick Hornqvist took 2 penalties and couldn't get his normal disruptive offensive game going. That led to the first line struggling on offense all night.
* With our solid scoring chances going to be few and far between in the series, Mike Fisher really needed to bury the breakaway in the 3rd period.

Game 2 Saturday night is almost a must win. If we go home down 0-2, there will be so much pressure to win the 2 home games. A split in Vancouver would give us room if the Canucks happen to come into Nashville and win either game 3 or 4.

I look for a better showing out of the Preds in Game 2 offensively. Let's hope Pekka Rinne can continue his great play and sneak out of western Canada with the series even at 1-1.

Preds Rolling Along, Stars are Next Big Game

The Preds keep answering the bell against teams they are fighting with in the western conference standings. The latest was the 5-4 win over Anaheim(8th place) last night. The Preds sit currently in 6th place with a Godzilla-huge game Saturday night versus the Dallas Stars. A Preds win Saturday would put them 6 points ahead of 9th place Dallas and get some measure of breathing room in the playoff race.

Schedule- 7 games left with 5 at home. 2 vs. top tier(Detroit, Vancouver), 4 vs. bottom feeders (Atlanta, St. Louis, Colorado, Columbus) and the big one vs. contender Dallas.

Quick Thoughts:
* Anaheim not a team you want to play in playoffs. It seemed like they had extra players on the ice all night. Other teams I don't want to play if Preds get in: L.A. Kings and San Jose Sharks.
* Pekka Rinne continues to carry the team. Hope the Preds can win a few more to solidify a playoff position and get him a little rest. The last 2 games of the season are back-to-back games and you don't want Pekka having to play both in order to secure a playoff spot.

25 hours and 20 minutes from the biggest game of the year. Let's go Preds!!!!

Game Night vs. San Jose Sharks

One of the hottest teams in NHL visits tonight in a true test for a resurgent Preds team that followed up a good 4 game road trip with a strong win against Montreal Saturday night.

Good news/bad news- The good news is the Preds put 55 shots on goal against the Canadiens Saturday night. The bad news is only 2 shots found the net. It is good to see the Preds playing most of the game in the other team's zone though. Maybe that is a good sign of things to come.

Pekka Rinne is the Man- It was a light night against Montreal but he came up big when needed. Pekka makes the spectacular look easy when he is on his game.

Sharks tonight and Devils on Thursday. Top teams in their respective conferences should be a good gauge on where the Preds are right now.