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.

The Capitals have scored 26 goals in 7 games while the Nashville Predators have failed to hit the 10 goal mark through 6 games, with only 8. 

Considering that the Predators are barely averaging over 1 goal per game thus far, it’s safe to say that Nashville has some serious offensive issues to solve.

The worst part for Nashville is that they won’t be getting reinforcements tonight. J.P. Dumont has been skating, but is still suffering from post-concussion symptoms and is doubtful for tonight. Dan Hamhuis will also be absent from action tonight at the Verizon Center as he is listed as ‘day to day’ with an ‘upper body’ injury. Cody Franson will replace Hamhuis on the Preds blue line.

The Capitals, on the other hand, are relatively healthy. Washington has some minor injuries to players like Boyd Gordon and John Erskine, both of whom will not be playing tonight but should be ready for Thursday.

Jose Theodore, as most know by now, is ‘day to day’ with back spasms, but according to the coach, is healing nicely and should be good to go by mid-week. Of course back spasms are not the sort of injury that you want to force to heal, so the team will be allowing Jose all the time he needs to get back to 100%. In the meantime, the Caps have called up Braden Holtby from their ECHL affiliate to backup Semyon Varlamov. Varly is going to get whatever starts Jose will miss, likely not giving much ice-time to the Holtby, but I must say that I admire Washington’s plan of bringing up the Caps most recently drafted goaltender to get him more comfortable with the team’s system as well as to give him a taste of how things operate at the NHL level.

Washington, fresh off of laying a 4-1 beating on the reigning President’s Cup winners on Thursday, should have an interesting time with the Predators tonight. Nashville is not a team of big names and headliners, but rather a group of hard-working quality hockey players. They do not have the same flash and dash as the Sharks or the Blackhawks, but are successful due to their work ethic. It would be easy for the Caps to take their foot of the gas pedal tonight against a less intimidating opponent like the Preds, but if they do not follow the same game-plan which saw them handle the Sharks, Nashville could seriously surprise this high-flying Washington squad.

The major factor that will be holding the Preds back tonight has been their lack of offense. Missing Arnott and Dumont will seriously downgrade Nashville’s offense, but don’t expect that to make them any less of a trying opponent tonight.

Although I am unsure as to whether the Caps will be facing Dan Ellis or Pekka Rinne(check out Brandon Felder or Paul McCann’s blogs for updates to Nashville’s lineup), it should pose no problem to the Caps top 6, 3 of which are currently in the top 5 scorers in the league.

One thing to watch out for is Nashville’s stingy defense. Led by Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, the Capitals top line will be facing two of the very best young defenders in the game. Nashville’s saving grace against the Caps tonight may very well be that top pairing as both Weber and Suter will be extremely excited to shutdown Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin.

Despite having scored 26 goals through 7 games, the Capitals have also allowed 22 goals against. This has been Washington’s main issue as they have had trouble shutting down other teams once they gain the lead. With two rookies between the pipes(Varly starting, Holtby backing him up), the Caps should be more enthused to keep the Preds scorers to the outside and will likely play a stronger defensive game.

It is imperative for the Caps to start playing smarter with the lead so expect Boudreau to switch his game-plan up once the team has the lead. Considering offense isn’t something the Capitals worry about, expect the entire team to focus on their defensive systems tonight.

Lineups

Washington Capitals

 Ovechkin-Morrison-Knuble

Laich-Backstrom-Semin

Fehr-Steckel-Clark

Laing-Aucoin-Bradley

*Boyd Gordon did not skate at practice and should not be considered ready to play tonight.

Green-Morrisonn

Poti-Jurcina

Pothier-Sloan

*Erskine participated in practice and may be ready, but will likely sit one more game, just in case.

*Varlamov

Holtby

*Starter

*Holtby won’t see much ice-time as Theo is healing nicely and should be back by mid-week, but I really like how the Caps have handled this situation in bringing up the rookie to give him some exposure at the NHL level. Holtby has a lot going for him and could likely end up as the Caps backup in a season or two as it’s likely that Washington will one day have to make a decision between Varly and Neuvo.

Nashville Predators

Sullivan-Arnott-Hornqvist

Jones-Legwand-Santorelli/Dumont(?)

Erat-Wilson-Ward

Smithson-Goc-Belak

*Dumont remains sidelined with headaches and Jordin Tootoo is out with a Hip Flexor.

*Update: It appears that Ben Guite has been returned to the Preds AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. I am unsure who will replace Guite, but according to <a href= http://www.ontheforecheck.com/>Dirk Hoag of ontheforecheck.com</a>, there is a chance that Cal O’Reilly may get the call.

Weber-Suter

Franson-Klein

Bouillon-Laakso

*Ellis

Rinne

*Starter

To check out more of my breakdown on tonight’s Capitals game versus the Predators, including game notes and more, Click Here.  

Steven Hindle

StevenHindle@hotmail.com

The Nashville Predators have concluded their preseason schedule, posting a 4-2 mark and giving a lot of young players the opportunity to lock down a roster spot. After today, when Nick Spaling was sent down to Milwaukee, the Preds roster stands at 29 players. As of this writing, there have been no further roster moves. This tells me that the coaches are doing some serious evaluation of some of the younger players that remain on the roster and that the staff may be closely watching the waiver wire to see if there are some bargains that can be picked up, especially at the forward position.

What of the 29 players that are on the roster at the conclusion of the preseason? Let’s start in the goal first. Pekka Rinne, the putative starter, had at best an average preseason campaign. His .800 save percentage belies the fact that there were some fluky goals and poor defensive coverage in front of him. Dan Ellis, currently penciled in as the back up, had a stellar preseason campaign, logging a .944 save percentage and looked strong in the net. The Predators should be solid in net with either net minder able to handle the goaltending duties. Rinne’s performance does not concern me as he was moving well, showed the good glove, and was sound positionally. I expect him to come out strong for the start of the season and have another solid campaign.

The blueline for the Predators is solid in the top four players, with Shea Weber and Ryan Suter manning the first pairing and Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein anchoring the second pairing. The fact is that Hamhuis has to play solid and not commit the occasional turnover that he is prone to do that puts his goalie in a difficult position. Klein is sound, but has to step up his intensity. The addition of Francis Buillon should help the D corps as his experience and physical play will be welcome. He played his first game for the Predators on Sunday against Columbus and notched a goal for the Preds. The remaining two slots are up for grabs, with a three way battle between Cody Franson, Alexander Sulzer, and Teemu Laakso competing for the two slots. At this point, it looks as if Sulzer will have one of the positions secured, and the battle is between Lasskso and Franson for the final slot (the Preds are expected to carry six blueliners to start the season). In my opinion, neither of these two have distinguished themselves enough to make this an easy call for the coaching staff.

The forwards remain the biggest question for the Preds. The top line of Arnott, Dumont, and Sullivan is set, although Sully has missed the last three games with a minor groin strain. David Legwand centers the second line with Marty Erat on one wing, and it appears that Mike Santorelli will start as the second line winger. Santorelli had a strong camp and hopefully for Predator fans will grow into that position and be productive. Speaking of production, Legwand and Erat have to produce at a higher level. Frankly, the success of this team and the potential return to the playoffs for the Predators depends on these two being productive- more so than they have been in past seasons. Rookie Colin Wilson started camp strong, but missed the last four games due to a groin strain, and it appears that he will begin the season in Milwaukee as he attempts to get healthy. I expect him to be back with the Predators before too much of the season lapses.

This team will again be challenged to score goals, and as mentioned, it is imperative that two players in particular, Erat and Legwand, have strong campaigns and improve their point production. Young players are going to be given an opportunity with this team, and they must make the most of it. It would not surprise me to see the Predators to look at possibly picking up a forward off waivers if they believe they can add consistent scoring punch to the line up. If this team is to be successful, they will have to have solid goal tending, play sound defense, and they will have to have production from the second and third lines. The margin for success with this team is razor thin, and veterans are going to have to step up their play and youngsters are going to have to produce to win.