Courtesy of ESPN
Nashville went into Anaheim as the “darling” pick of a lot of the experts out there and they didn’t disappoint in Game 1, winning it 4-1 and taking a 1-0 lead in the series
Special Teams:
Powerplay – 1 for 5, 20%
Powerplay For The Playoffs – 1 for 5, 20%
Penalty Kill – 4 for 5, 80%
Penalty Kill For The Season – 4 for 5, 80%
Best Play of the Game: Steve Sullivan skating quickly past and around an Anaheim defender and getting a shot AND his own rebound and putting it in the net for a 2-0 lead in the second period
Worst Play of the Game: Whatever Sheldon Brookbank was trying to do against Jordin Tootoo on the end boards at around the 9:30 mark of the third period. What Brookbank received was 2 minutes for holding, however the cross-checking seemed to be ignored. Call me a homer, if you will, but after tonight’s game Brookbank needs to have a close eye put on him by the officials or someone is going to get hurt
Players (Good and Bad) of the Game:
The Good: Mike Fisher – As I mentioned in my series outlook, Mike Fisher will be the X-Factor for this series and boy did it show tonight. 2 goals, 1 assist, +2 for the night, Mike Fisher is out for blood against the Ducks after losing to the same Anaheim Ducks in the 2007 Cup Finals
The Bad: Corey Perry – For the Ducks to succeed, Perry has to succeed. That’s not going to happen when Perry is a -3 and attempting to get into Pekka Rinne’s head. What happened after that? The first time he attempted that he was pulled off by an angry Shea Weber. The second time? Ask Kevin Kline’s fist what happened…
My Preds #1 Star: Mike Fisher – Mr. X-Factor delivered tonight. People want to see why the Preds traded for him? Tonight is EXACTLY why.
Synopsis: Boy…this is going to be an UGLY ugly series. Even though the Predators won 4-1 this evening, the events that unfolded do nothing but show why this is ONLY the beginning:
- Corey Perry trying to get into Pekka Rinne’s head…twice, only to be shut down by Shea Weber and a fist from Kevin Fline to his forehead
- The Preds chasing Dan Ellis in only game 1….who starts game 2?
- Shane O’Brien LITERALLY telling George Parros to take a look at the “scoreboard”…yes…SOB pointed at the scoreboard
- The Ducks took 32 MINUTES of penalties in the last 45 seconds of the game. Including a 2 and 10 for Sheldon Brookbank…suspensions coming maybe?
Perry/Ryan/Getzlaf were a -5 for the night with Getzlaf getting the only point out of all three (an assist). If the Ducks want to win, these guys have to produce. If they have another night like this on Friday, they’re going to be staring at an 0-2 deficit going into the hostile environment that is the Bridgestone Arena against a Preds team HUNGRY for their first playoff series win.
Game 2 is Friday night in Anaheim. Gametime is 9:30pm CST
Series Record: 1-0, Predators Lead
Thanks for reading!
~KM
Great game by the preds LATE last night. Im not digging the west coast time zone. Especially when im on the east coast. Question- any idea if game 4 is sold out yet?
Game 4? Not so much, a LONG way to go on that one (couple thousand away). Game 3 is much closer, right near about 1k left
I can’t believe there hasn’t been more talk about Colin Wilson getting scratched. He was the kid with all the hype around him and after nearly 2 seasons, he’s on the bench while Geoffrion and Halishuk play. That’s amazing to me.
I really worry that the Wilson for Kessel no deal is going to come back to haunt us for a long time like so many other deals have. I’d have to think that if you replaced Wilson with Kessel on this team this year we would’ve won the division.
Holy crap Lethargic lives!!!
Good write up, Kris, but don’t expect suspensions to Brookbank. Too bad the 32 minutes of penalties don’t carry over to Friday night. And I hope Perry is donning a nice mark from Klein’s fist. Hell, he’s probably going to wear foundation and coverup to make it appear he didn’t get nicked.