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 on a Roll, face Vancouver tonight

Preds roll into Vancouver with 2 wins in 2 games so far on the 3 game road trip. Preds are 6-0-1 over their last 7 and holding onto 4th place in the western conference standings. The word HOT is a good description of the team lately as we are 5 games from the halfway point of the season. With 4 of next 5 games on the road and 2 of those matchups with the western conference leader Chicago Blackhawks, the Preds have their work cut out for them and no let up in sight as far as the schedule goes heading into the new year.

Other thoughts as the way I see it:

* The law of averages say the Preds are due for a slight cool off with the winning, but if they were to beat Chicago twice and get points in 2 of the 3 other contests, the Preds could be in first place in the western conference heading into 2010.
* I told you so #1- You can go back and look at the posts where I told you Patrick Hornqvist did not belong on the 4th line based on his production. Last week he exploded for 4 goals and 3 assists leading to being named the NHL 3rd star for the week. He belongs on one of our top 2 lines.
* I told you so #2- Before the season I said if the Preds are to have a good season and finish in the top half of the conference it is Legwand/Erat who need to lead the way and get close to 30 goals each. Erat has now scored 12 goals after a terrible start and is on pace for 30 goals. Legwand has chipped in 8 goals but is playing the best 2 way hockey of his career. If they keep this up the Preds will be in good shape.

Get a quick nap in this evening for the 9:30 start tonight at Vancouver.