Predators 4, Ducks 2: History was made

  First, congratulations to those that have been on board since day one of the franchise (I had to slowly ween myself from being a Penguins fan….more on that later). This one is for you guys and gals the most. I, along with many others I’m sure, also feel a bit vindicated in that we’ve argued with people for 4 years now that if Poile would add a legit top 6 forward to this team it would make a world of difference. He finally did in Mike Fisher and quite frankly, we don’t win this series (let alone make the playoffs) without him. To have someone who can go up against a Getzlaf and neutralize that advantage they otherwise would have had on us is beyond huge. It pains me that we didn’t do this last year or the year before, but better late than never I suppose!

  But maybe as big of a reason for us winning is one that no one including myself thought to be an advantage going into this series and that is our bottom 6 forwards vs. their bottom six. We outscored them 7-2 in that department, and really 7-1 when you consider that MacMillian scored his goal filling in for Ryan on the top line in game 4. Without those bottom 6 guys contributing almost 33% of our offense in this series, we likely would have lost it. The goaltending advantage we thought would be in our favor really wasn’t that much of a factor, as Rinne didn’t play as well overall as expected. Emery certainly is no Jonas Hiller, but he came up big at times for the Ducks. The question of whether we win this series if a healthy Hiller was in goal for the Ducks is 50/50 in my mind, but it all really came down to the play of our bottom 6 forwards. The Ducks top 6 scored 17 of their 20 goals in this series, certainly better than our top 6, it was our 3rd and 4th lines that made the difference. The beauty of this game is that you can do all the analysis of a series you want, but so many times it comes down to a factor you never thought it would.

  As for this game, it reminded me of when I was a Pens fan and all the huge goals guys like Bob Errey, Phil Borque, Troy Looney and some other bottom 6 guys scored for the Pens back in their ‘91 and ’92 Cup years. You can’t win without those type of players coming up big for you in the playoffs, and that’s what guys like Spaling, Tootoo and Smithson did in this series. You can’t go far if you don’t get offensive contrubutions from guys like that and the Ducks found that out in this series. Your top 6 guys can only do so much, you need the grinders and muckers to chip in as well.

  I’m a bit baffled at some of the Ducks coaching decisions in this game, especially not to put Ryan on the top line to start the game and why they got away from their “physical” play of the first 4 games (it was ugly but effective). To me at least, Trotz was the better coach in this series.

  Not gonna think to much about the next series (it will get much harder!). Just enjoy this one for awhile. :)

….even stranger, it says Selanne received a game misconduct at 19:50. Was that just mouthing off at the ref over the Koivu or Perry penalties? does anyone know? totally out of the norm for Selanne

It is now 2:15 Monday Morning. I am finished celebrating this historic moment in Preds history. Time to get focused and move on to the next series. There is still alot of Hockey left to play.

Great game Guys. Go Preds,

and this made coca-cola literally come out of my nose.

[To Shea Weber]
If you think Nashville is a nice place, you should try Southern California. I hear there will be a couple openings on the blue line for a particular Orange County based team. Also, how long have you been growing that beard? You are a large, terrifying, lumberjack of a man

That first goal was sick. I am still trying to figure out how that one got in. He just about took over the series. As much as I am enjoying gloating over beating Perry and co, I almost feel bad beating Selanne, especially watching this post-game interview, he is understandably crushed. I hope he doesn’t hang ’em up after this season.

We create a little history….And I gotta read about a few shouts during the handshake? Is there not more to celebrate than to disparage? Holy crap!!!!!

I’m always amazed at the thoughts going thru a few minds as the Preds make history. Here we are, winning a playoff series and we got people who would actually feel the need to post a complaint about a chant???? Much less have this type of thought go thru your mind at such a monumental moment in Preds history. Seems ……odd.

I believe I will celebrate and leave the thought police to do their thing…I guess.

Hi guys, Ducks fan here. Just wanted congratulate you guys on a great series and wish you luck in the future. You have a great team and an amazing coach. From one fan of a small-market team to another, I hope you guys go all the way and I will be rooting for you. Also, if you go up against the Sharks or Red Wings please destroy them. Like find a way to end them as a franchise. Great, thanks so much.