Those last two PPs (late in the third and then OT) cost us the game. I thought to myself, "the hockey gods will not allow us to win a shootout where we squandered those golden opportunities.) Speaking of the power play--let's pray we don't see Cullen and Ellis on the points together again. Two potentially backbreaking shorthanded oddman rushes given up by that pairing. The OT PP was especially frustrating because it seemed like the puck movement was there...until you realized that the Kings were letting the Predators move the puck around the perimeter freely, knowing where the shot was eventually going to come from.
With all of that said..it's hard to be too down about this game. The Predators out-possessed, out-shot, and out-chanced a team that normally dominates all of those categories against not just us, but most teams in the league. Obviously there's still a lack of finish to contend with, but the Predators had two lines working pretty well last night...the Bourque\Cullen\Smith line that's been the best over the last few games, and the Legwand and Forsberg's line looked decent as well, although it's very "Trotz" to put Nystrom on that line, while Stalberg(who looked better than he has) is playing with Gaustad and Hendricks. I understand that Stalberg hasn't played well, and Nystrom has been solid...but it messes with the identity of your lines. You can't really call Legwand's line a scoring line when you've got a guy who is in no way suited to that role on it, nor can the fourth line really be an energy\grind line when you've got a soft player like Stalberg on it. To be fair...Carcillo was on the wing with Richards and Carter.
I don't think you can really say, "same old bad shootout team" on the basis of last night's game. All three attempts were better than the average Erat or Fisher attempt from last season. There's potential, though I was surprised that Hendricks didn't get a chance, given his "specialist" distinction in that role. On the other side, Carter and Richards apparently don't know the book on Rinne--he'll take his chances on a clean shot every time. Anze Kopitar was the only one that knew to get him out of the net, give him a move to bite on, and put it in the empty net.
Overall, we deserved two points, but let the lost 1 be a motivating lesson. I liked this game a lot better than the Minnesota game that we looked very bad in winning.
