Sabres, Teeth, and Tigers: A Nashville Predators Be A GM

[pbbm]

Nice update! I'll be following this closely.

Are your penalty sliders set very high? Or was this just a weird game with a lot of penalties?

[AdamJones113]

Quote: Originally Posted by pbbm

Nice update! I'll be following this closely. Are your penalty sliders set very high? Or was this just a weird game with a lot of penalties?

For the next game I'm putting them down by one, but I love to poke check which equals a lot of tripping calls. Thanks for the update.

[AdamJones113]

Too Many Centers Spoil The Broth?

Mike Fisher. Derek Roy. Mike Ribiero. Colin Wilson. Craig Smith. Matt Cullen. Olli Jokinen. That's seven starters, out of 12 active skaters, who identify themselves as predominantly centers. Matt Hendricks. Paul Gaustad. They're also centers, but scratched.

As the old saying goes, "too many cooks spoil the broth." Nashville dropped their first game of the season 6-3 in Colorado, playing poor transition defense and allowing too many forwards in the low slot—the position a center should be on defense. With most of the Predators' lines having two centers, it's likely that one or both tried to cede defensive position to the other, without much success.

On the offensive side, Nashville did indeed play well. They peppered Avalanche netminder Semyon Varlamov with 40 shots (though in comparison to Colorado's 46 shots on net 40 is less impressive), and two centers, Matt Cullen—playing right wing—and Mike Ribiero scored goals. A closer look at Nashville's three tallies, however, shows two goals (Ribiero's and James Neal's) were tip-ins, and assisted by Shea Weber and Roman Josi—both defensemen. Only one center lived up to his billing as a playmaker, and that was Olli Jokinen on Cullen's goal.

Peter Laviolette, first year head coach of Nashville, has his work cut out for him. He's had success with seemingly-weighted-against-him-odds in the past, winning a Cup with rookie goaltender Cam Ward and the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, and coming back from a 3-0 series deficit in the ECFs in 2010 as the Philadelphia Flyers' head coach. So all indications prove he's up to the task.

Again, it's early in the year. Very early. For all we know, the Pred-centers may get hot and/or figure out how to play other positions. It seems like an appropriate time to use one of Coach Laviolette's many (NSFW) catchphrases:

"Let's ****ing giddy-up and go."


Guys, check out what will be the main database for this franchise at the link below. I'll still post all the videos and game recaps and articles here, but the link is much more dynamic and up-to-date. Thanks for following, hope you enjoy!
http://dynastynation.operationsports...Jays&sport=nhl

[AdamJones113]

Editors' Note: To be honest guys, I got the video, it was semi-corrupted and won't export/save. But next game should have one, don't worry.


Game two for the Predators didn't go any better for Nashville, and this one stings more because they came back and because it was on home ice. Matt Duchene once again ran amok on an undisciplined Nashville team, scoring two goals and assisting on another.

"He's hot. What else is there to say?" asked a frustrated Peter Laviolette.

James Neal opened the scoring at 10:29 of the first period, tapping in a Derek Roy centering pass after some nice cycling work from Roman Josi, Roy, and Olli Jokinen (who was credited with the other assist). Neal has two goals in his two first games as a Predator.

Ryan O'Reilly equalized on a powerplay at 8:33 when he managed to slip a Gabriel rebound past Pekka Rinne after poor defense from Ryan Ellis. Jarome Iginla got the other assist. Matt Duchene gave Colorado the lead with 25.6 seconds to play, scoring on a 5-on-3 powerplay with a high blocker wrist shot from the top of the left circle (assisted by Landeskog and Jordan Leopold).

"I have no clue how he scored that," said a disappointed Rinne. "I was in perfect position, not sure how he scored it."

Landeskog gave Colorado a 3-1 lead after scoring off a 2-on-1. Matt Duchene slapped one low blocker, Rinne made the kick save, Landeskog was in the right position and he finished at 6:53.

Nashville cut the lead in half when Olli Jokinen found Victor Bartley at the point, from Jokinen's place at the half boards. Bartley's slapper on net was saved by Jean-Sebastien Giguere, but Nystrom was right there for an easy rebound goal.

Duchene proceeded to widen the gap with a goal from the slot at 15:33 of the third. He's tied for first in the NHL with four goals in two games.

"It's something we have to work on. I don't think anyone on this team is going to accept that kind of play from us. We have to work harder and do things right, and doing things right isn't what we've done recently," said captain Shea Weber, who got into 3 fights in a vain effort to give the Predators momentum.

Gabriel Bourque scored a wrist-shot glove high beauty at 11:44 to give the Predators a chance, but Giguere turned away the onslaught and Jarome Iginla's empty netter with a second to go was the icing on the cake.

The Predators stay home until Thursday, when they host the San Jose Sharks at 9:00 CT.

Colorado Avalanche at Nashville Predators
Oct 14, 2013 1 2 3 F COL (1-0) 2 1 2 5 NSH (0-1) 1 1 1 3 Three Stars Matt Duchene 2G, A, +2, 6SOG Jean-Sebastien Giguere W, 56 SV, %94.98 SPCT Gabriel Landeskog G, 2A, +2, 5 SOG	Team Stats Comparison COL NSH Shots on Goal 47 59 Hits 25 35 Faceoffs Won-Lost 31 26 Penalty Minutes 23:00 27:00 Power Plays Converted 2/6 1/4 Power Play Opportunities 7 5 Time on Attack
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD NSH 10:29—J. Neal (2), (D. Roy, O. Jokinen) COL 8:33—R. O'Reilly (1), (G. Landeskog, J. Iginla) COL 0:25—M. Duchene (3), (G. Landeskog, J. Leopold) SECOND PERIOD COL 6:53—G. Landeskog (2), (M. Duchene) NSH 3:14—E. Nystrom (1), (V. Bartley, O. Jokinen) THIRD PERIOD COL 15:33—M. Duchene (4), (J. Iginla) NSH 11:44—G. Bourque (1), (V. Stalberg, M. Ribiero) COL 0:01—J. Iginla EN (2)

[pbbm]

Curse the Avalanche and that do-gooder Duchene! Can't even let the Predators win at home. What a guy!

[AdamJones113]

Game article only. See video highlights and box score at: http://dynastynation.operationsports...Jays&sport=nhl

The Nashville Predators dropped to 0-3 Thursday night in San Jose when the home team scored two in the first and held off the visitors the rest of the game.

"It sucks. It really sucks. We played well today but we didn't play well enough. That has to change," said Nashville captain Shea Weber in the post-game press conference. Weber engaged in three fights in a vain attempt to sway the momentum Nashville's way.

Joe Pavelski scored at 9:06 of the first period on the powerplay. Rafi Torres cycled behind the net, out to the top of the circle and slapped one on Pekka Rinne. Rinne made the first save, but Pavelski slotted the rebound under the sprawling Rinne for the opening goal.

"It was a case of being in the right place at the right time, and I was," said Pavelski.

The Sharks scored again exactly 3 minutes later when Tommy Wingels deflected a pass to the point and managed to evade Weber before going top shelf on the breakaway.

The Predators got their best defense in the second period, recording their first 20 without allowing a goal.

To start the third period, Mike Fisher drew the faceoff back to Shea Weber, who found Derek Roy cutting into the slot. Roy sniped Antti Niemi top shelf to the glove hand 8 seconds into the third to cut the lead in half. Unfortunately for Nashville, the Sharks held them off the rest of the game and scored a short-handed goal to ice things.

Rich Clune left the game in the second period. His status is To Be Evaluated.

[AdamJones113]

The Predators got their first win of the season Saturday night in Phoenix behind a 4-goal third period that saw them erase a 2 goal deficit. Nashville had 4 players individually notch 2 assists, and the team showed resilience the entire game.

Carter Hutton started in place of Pekka Rinne, who was getting a day off after starting Nashville's first three games. Hutton was sharp for the 1st and 2nd periods, but made two miscues in the third resuting in Arizona scoring twice in the first 3 minutes. Luckily for Hutton, who made 35 saves in his season debut, the Preds tightened up and scored the final four goals.

Nashville opened the scoring in the first period as Mike Ribiero located a deflected pass from Victor Bartley and slotted it five-hole for the lead. Shane Doan tied it up with a blazing wrister with 35 seconds to play in the first.

After Viktor Stalberg scored on Gabriel Bourque's second assist of the day, Doan fired home again to tie it up.

"I had a good day. But we didn't win, so it isn't a great day," said Doan, who was named first star of the game for his 2 goals and an assist.

Ex-Predator Martin Erat gave Arizona the lead early in the third when Carter Hutton let an easy shot rebound right onto Erat's stick and the winger made no mistake for a powerplay goal. Lauri Korpikoski scored a minute later as Hutton overplayed a pass to the slot and gave Korpikoski an open net.

The Predators weren't surrendering that easily though. 21 seconds later, Seth Jones made a beautiful toe drag around Keith Yandle and snapped a wrister home over Mike Smith's blocker.

"It feels pretty awesome to score a goal like that, I guess. I was trying to get into good position, I made a split second decision and it turned out good I guess," said Jones.

Captain Shea Weber pulled off a similar move 5 minutes later, finding his way into the slot and going bar-down over Smith's blocker for a powerplay equalizer.

"I think it's pretty clear what happened. No more questions," were Smith's lone words in the post-game press conference.

Derek Roy sniped one glove side with 5 minutes and change to play, and Nashville played some hectic defense the rest of the way to hang on for their much-needed first win of the season. James Neal scored an empty net goal to put the icing on the Coyote cake.