NASHVILLE DEFEATS OTTAWA

NASHVILLE DEFEATS OTTAWA

This time, the headline is accurate.  No really.  The six game losing streak is really over.

What a Jekyll and Hyde game tonight- especially so for Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.

First two periods, Nashville plays aggressive forechecking, forcing turnovers and putting pucks on net.  Tonight they made their own luck early on.

Then there was this thing called the third period.  They fell back into a trapping system and Ottawa capitalized by entering the zone with speed and capitalizing on defensive miscues.

The young’uns played a good game tonight.  Cody Franson had one miscue that Rinne stopped, but otherwise, they had a good game.  Franson with 1G and was +2 on the night.  Colin Wilson had 1A and was E.  Patric Hornqvist was +1 on the night.  O’Reilly was +3, Sulzer had 1A and was +2.

J.P. Dumont had a goal and four assists (+3).  In general, he played a controlled game and found the open players all night.

Shea Weber and Ryan Suter found the offense in a big way tonight.

Special mention must be made to Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist and Dave Scatchard.  They were a terror every time they hit the ice.  They had 7 shots on goal and 2A among them.

Nice to see the power play show some signs of life.  Erat needs to be taken off that power play unit for a time.

Resiliency.  That used to be a common trait for this team.  Hopefully that’s a good sign.  The scheme change allowed Ottawa to get back into the game, but the rebounded by continuing their offensive efforts by putting the puck on net.

What I Didn’t Like

Martin Erat somehow was second on the team in ice time.  He was constantly turning the puck over.  He was -3 on the night.  Erat had one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play.

Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont both passed up multiple clear shots to the net only to turn the puck over making the extra pass.

Rare night where Suter and Weber might have been the worst defensemen at times in their own zone.

I detested Nashville changing their defensive system for the third period.  By dropping back into their trap (effectively a “prevent” defense), they essentially allowed Ottawa to gain momentum and force our defensive errors.  The coaches may say that they just didn’t execute the trap well in the third- and they would be correct.  However, I believe it was a much more grievous error to change how they had been playing.

Pekka Rinne’s third period left something to be desired.  He had an excellent first two periods.  While he didn’t get a lot of help in the third, he needed to step up and make one or two stops.

I didn’t like the lack of discipline in the third period.  Fortunately, Ottawa was even worse.