On the Forecheck
California Dreaming
by Forechecker on 11/16/08 at 10:24 AM ET
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A week ago at this time, the Predators looked like an embattled bunch, reeling from three straight road losses against Northwest Division opponents, and shuffling lines due to injuries. They limped out of Denver after a demoralizing 1-0 loss, and some openly wondered not just whether Barry Trotz was getting his message across, but whether his job should be in jeopardy.
Three games later, Trotz and the gang look more like Road Warriors, having barnstormed through California more successfully than Barack Obama on election night. Saturday, the L.A. Kings were the prey; billed as one of the hottest teams in the league, they certainly brought a strong, consistent game backed by steady goaltending. I had to double-check the schedule to make sure this was really Los Angeles, as I haven’t seen this combination of talent and teamwork since the days when Barry Melrose was a coach in the NHL. Then again, considering recent events, I guess that means the Kings may be headed back down the toilet once again.
Coach Trotz has unleashed his dogs of war
And now, the highlights from the late late late show in L.A….
In a nutshell, the Kings did a generally good job of keeping the play in the offensive end; whenever the Predators got the puck in deep, it seemed like their defense turned it around quickly and started a rush the other way. L.A. has enough top-end talent up front in Kopitar, Frolov and Brown to force opponents into scrambling to keep pace, as you’ll see early on in the video above. There were many cases when the Predators were lunging out of position just to try and break up the L.A. forwards from circling their zone, but at least it didn’t appear that there were as many scoring chances from the prime scoring area right in front of the crease as in recent games.
If there’s a single offensive play that stands out, it has got to be Dan Ellis’ lead pass to set up Arnott’s opening goal. He caught the Kings on a line change and hit Martin Erat near the L.A. blue line, and some heads-up puck movement resulted in a slam-dunk for the captain. Ellis didn’t get an assist, however, as the play went Erat to Dumont to Arnott for the score. That’s a play Ellis loves to make, and is just another example of how eliminating the two-line pass is probably my favorite rule change to come out of the “new NHL”.
You’ve also got to like the effort of J.P. Dumont on the winning goal; after he gets hit in the arm by VK’s wrister, he hangs around the slot rather than head to the bench, and gets rewarded with a feed from Arnott for the score. Dumont is now tied for 7th in the NHL in scoring, and stands 4th in the Western Conference.
Not far behind him in the scoring race is Shea Weber, who, in a sign that this might really be a charmed season for him, got the credit for an empty netter in the final minute. The Kings actually had possession deep in the Nashville end, but a pass back to the point missed its target, and went all the down into the L.A. net to make it 3-1. Since Weber was the last Pred to touch the puck, he got the goal and now has 18 points in 17 games to lead all NHL defensemen.
Over the last four games, Dan Ellis has given up eight goals on 146 shots, for a combined save percentage of .945. The skaters in front of him certainly need to stop giving up so many good chances, but it is good to see them sweeping away rebounds and looking more like the team that stormed down the stretch last season to make the playoffs.
After this, the longest road trip of the season, the Preds are finally heading home to Nashville for a Monday night matchup with San Jose (for tickets, check out the deal in the sidebar to your right). After that game they’ll take a two-game swing through the opposite end of North America (Tampa Bay and Carolina), but that’s life in the NHL. Enjoy the home cooking while it lasts…
Filed in: Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck | Permalink
Tags: Barry+Trotz, Dan+Ellis, J.P.+Dumont, Shea+Weber,
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