LAST ISSUE'S REPORT
The wedding I attended was great, unfortunately I neglected to
submit a report for the previous issue. Therefore, without further
ado - the Cliff Notes version of my last report.
Detriot Red Wings - Got smacked.
New York Islanders - Yes! Road win.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Tied the game with one minute left . . . lost
in OT.
New York Rangers - First 30 minutes very bad, last 30
minutes better - not good enough to come all the way back.
Colorado Avalanche - Built up lead, gave up two goals in last six
minutes and wound up kissing their sister.
St. Louis - Division win on the road. Good job.
Sorry for the lapse.
THIS ISSUE'S REPORT
So I'm back in the saddle again. The Preds didn't really improve
their chances of getting into the playoffs, but they didn't look
too bad either.
STARS IN THEIR EYES
When the Predators looked at the schedule, they must have looked
twice when the saw a home-and-home slated for March. After Dallas
has pretty much had their way with most of the league, it must have
looked even tougher. Interestingly enough, the Predators played
the talent-laden Stars to a 1-0 loss on the road in their first
meeting, so they could certainly build on that.
In the first game, Dallas' first visit to Music City, the Predators
continued down a road they need to avoid to make themselves
contenders in the future. They held a multi-goal lead going into
the third period, which for most teams is a good place to find
yourself. The Predator way is to build up that lead and then give
it away. It happened against Colorado the week before, when Joe
Sakic scored a hat trick to tie the Predators. This time it was
Mike Modano scoring a hat trick to give his team a win in the third
period.
The next night, the Predators kept up their strong road play. A
sweet goal by Sergei Krivokrasov stunned the Dallas fans with less
than 25 seconds left in the game, giving the Preds a 2-1 victory.
Think the Stars are rooting for the Predators to miss the playoffs?
FIRST TIME MILE-HIGH
The Predators came into Denver with a 1-0-1 record against the Avs,
and were trying to remain undefeated against a team that had picked
things up considerably from the first half of the year. The
Predators left Denver 1-1-1, defeated, but still .500 against a
significantly more talented team. Not much to talk about here, one
questionable goal allowed by video replay, but them's the breaks.
NO MORE BLUES
In their last meeting of the year, the Predators were trying to
bring their record to .500 against St. Louis. Not gonna happen.
In an ugly effort, the Preds got smoked. Kelly Chase had his first
two-goal game of his career, and Patrick Cote was pounded by Tony
Twist. This was a bad night to be a hockey player in Nashville.
WESTERN SWING TO SEE THE KINGS
Its a darn good thing that the Predators decided to play better on
the road in the second half of the season, as the schedule was
home-heavy up front. In journeying out to see some teams in their
Conference, they were looking to pick up some ground in the playoff
hunt. They tried and tried and built up a lead going into the
third period, but they just couldn't give it away. Sebastien
Bordeleau, a force on the face-off and a great penalty killer, had
two goals against L.A. and the Predators escaped with a 4-3 win.
Mike Dunham played reasonably well, though there are still concerns
that he is getting through the tail end of his recovery from groin
injury.
MIGHTY LAME DUCK
They were not done in by Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne. The were
done in by Jeff Neilsen, who doubled his output for the whole
season in this one game. Cliff Ronning scored a goal with 12
seconds left in the game to give the Predators a slim chance, but
they did not have enough time to get any more good chances. On to
Phoenix.
TRICKED AGAIN
The Predators have become very generous to the league's superstars
lately. In the past two weeks they have provided hat trick defense
for both Joe Sakic and Mike Modano. Sunday night's game in Phoenix
turned into another headwear affair when Keith Tckachuk scored
three times and gave the Coyotes all they needed to put away the
Preds. Scott Walker continued his strong play, scoring twice in
the second period, but the Predators could not break through in the
third to score the equalizer.
Notes
Not much going on in Nashville, no trade rumors to speak of . . .
.they don't really have anything to give anyone except Cliff
Ronning, and I don't think they will trade the Rat . . . .Patrick
Cote leads the league in fighting majors . . . . the playoffs don't
look as feasible now that teams like the Flames, Ducks, and Sharks
have picked up their play while the Preds have not.
