Observations

[Enoch]

Secondary scoring has improved dramatically as the system becomes more entrenched and linemates chemistry is developing. People ignored the fact that nearly half of the forwards on this roster were new and we are missing the two stalwarts/leaders of the forward core over the last several years (Legwand and Fisher).

Primary scoring has been great and scoring consistently. When they aren't scoring the, then you hope secondary scoring asserts itself. Well .... it is. Can we quit complaining?!?!?!

PP still needs work as does the PK, but strides are being made.

Pekka has let in a few softies in the last two games, goal 2 of the Panthers game and goal 3 of the the Kings game. If both of those goals are saved (as they should be), we win in regulation with excellent performances. Either way, we still nabbed the two points.

You really can't complain too much if you have watched this team continue to evolve. Just excelling in too many aspects that it makes the areas that are struggling mroe tolerable.

And for the record:

Who doesn't believe the PK will improve with the personel we have on this roster? It WILL get better.

/end

/insert retort post citing +/-, shots off the wall in the opposing teams zone, Hutton's save percentage vs the KHL, etc. and other inane responses.

 

[Pred303]

good posts guys. the most important thing to me so far, is how exciting this team is to watch. when our forechecking has a good game, it feels like we get some type of chance every shift.

...don't underestimate the kings, the forecheck last night got all over them and helped create all those shots, but remember two of their better puck moving d-men were out for this one.
...great shot stats drw. you feel it watching but numbers really help quantify it.
...those shot numbers are the biggest difference between this team and past teams and best exemplify the difference in lavy's system. even when we had better overall talent (and who can really argue the 06-07 and 07-08 teams didn't have more forward talent?), we relied then on counters more to generate odd man rush attacks than we do now with the aggressive forecheck, activating dmen system we do now.
...when you're outshooting the opponent consistently it just 'feels' better, like you're far more in control of the game (whether you really are or not). i like that feeling as a fan.
...i will point out that the dmen being far more aggressive in the zone does have it's risks. last night jones carrying the puck in deep, losing it and leading to the rush the other way and their first goal will happen more than we're used to. honestly i feel less worried when i see josi down low, and last night josi was down low almost every shift lol.

...that's the wilson i want to see. him and smith have actually both been great since they were lined with jarnkrok. for about the third time in last 4 games they were our most dangerous line.
...love jarnkrok's shot. like how he pullls the puck in and gets that wrist shot off so quickly. now if he can actually start hitting corners with it instead of straight into logos he will be dangerous. like the kids game overall.
...cann't overestimate the importance of beck's goal. like the kid line, the 4th line has improved dramatically in the offensive zone with him there.
...we still are missing consistent net presence in the zone. too many shots coming unscreened. the 4th line might be the only one that has a consistent net presense, they just don't have enough skill to take full advantage of it.
...what i'd like to see more of from the 4th line is grinding the puck in deep and kicking it back out to the point for our dmen to shoot the puck into their traffic.
...see rinne takes full responsibility for the johnson goal. calling it awful and himself pitiful on that one. rinne is such a good teammate, you like to see a man stand up and say it was my fault.
...i like the way this team feels. teamates look to really like and pull for each other. watched a replay of the under the ice segment this morning. really enjoyed hearing lavy in the locker room during the pen game. also like how players get talked to almost after every shift on bench by one of the coaches.
...thought jokinen had the best game of the old man line. overall that line was our weakest last night.

right now, all is good in my hockey world.

 

[handtrick]

This may be the best 'chemistry team" Poile has assembled in some time.
The veterans are key to this and the 4 one year signing's maturity is a big part of this.
Also the young guys are quite mature and humble...Forsberg, jarnkrok, beck, ekholm, ellis jones.
Compare them to the maturity levels of Radulov, SK74, young Colin Wilson, and even young Ryan suter (who was quite the primmadonna as per a couple of the coaches).

 

[Paranoid Android]

Is it just me or are our D playing a bit more passively on opponents' rushes? I noticed it last night, but realized I've seen it happen a few times this season. For example on the King's first goal, Ellis didn't pressure Gaborik until he was in the face off circle, and Jones didn't pressure Williams until he was as low as the hashmarks. Maybe I'm misremembering, but the gap coverage doesn't seem as tight as it was under Trotz.

 

[Enoch]

We have definitely had some 1 on 4 goals given up this season. The Doughty goal was so soft, it is hard for me to get onto the coverage to definitively. Then again, you play the body there, and the play dies. I think we gave doughty extra room due to his dynamic puck-moving ability, and it burned us.

I would agree PA - we do tend to be a little softer near the blueline entry. Then again, we are activating our defense much more than in years past which leads to different positioning in transition.

I will be continuing to watch this aspect as well.

 

[tampa pred]

...i will point out that the dmen being far more aggressive in the zone does have it's risks. last night jones carrying the puck in deep, losing it and leading to the rush the other way and their first goal will happen more than we're used to. honestly i feel less worried when i see josi down low, and last night josi was down low almost every shift lol.

This was my biggest problem with Trotz. When you have the goalie and D that we have, we can afford to take chances. Even when we mess up, more often than not, it doesn't hurt us. Trotz demanded a conservative, defense first approach which did not take advantage of trusting the strong goaltending and D to cover up for mistakes caused by being over aggressive.

 

[Pred303]

note the three youngest, eckholm, jones and ellis are the ones that tend to worry more about position on the blueline on entries and therefore give up the blueline more easily than the vets. experience and confidence in one's own ability to cover and pairing mate backing you up improve that given time.

 

[ILikeItILoveIt]

A Day in the life ......
Go to the sold out game last night with family & friend - check
Go wild all night, watch great game, win, 2-pts - check
Listen to post-game to re-live game - check
Go thru twitter feed to re-live game again - check
Hit the morning treadmill, re-watch goals and shootouts on DVR - check
Watch highlights on NHL Channel to get their reaction - check
Check standing cuz I love to see Preds on top - check
Read thru "Observations" thread while eating lunch - check
Think ahead to tomorrow nights game - check
Start worrying it's a trap game against the lowly Oilers who give us fits - check
Sit back and be thankful for The Pred Life - checkmate

 

[Pred303]

A Day in the life ......
Go to the sold out game last night with family & friend - check
Go wild all night, watch great game, win, 2-pts - check
Listen to post-game to re-live game - check
Go thru twitter feed to re-live game again - check
Hit the morning treadmill, re-watch goals and shootouts on DVR - check
Watch highlights on NHL Channel to get their reaction - check
Check standing cuz I love to see Preds on top - check
Read thru "Observations" thread while eating lunch - check
Think ahead to tomorrow nights game - check
Start worrying it's a trap game against the lowly Oilers who give us fits - check
Sit back and be thankful for The Pred Life - checkmate

lol ilikeit, almost my exact day as well

 

[Adz]

Mine, too--the second to last one--been worried about it for a week!

One change--instead of watching highlights on NHL Network, I watched the entire replay of the game with my son because I wanted to show him what I'd gotten to see live. Funny how what I see on TV doesn't exactly mesh with my memories of what happened while I was there. Emotion plays such a part! But USUALLY I'd just watch highlights.

 

[gopreds19]

So very much wish I was still living in Nashville to see the team live. Is the 3rd period standing ovation still a thing during the TV timeout?

 

[I Will Son]

and that, my friends, is why I love this game. a game of give and take, swiftly changing emotions and momentum, the unpredictability of unexpectedly taking a lead and just as unexpectedly giving them right back up. it's a game that plays with your emotions, swiftly changing from joy to anger and back again. a few thoughts;

...I always feel sort of dirty after a shootout win. and cheated after a shootout loss. the novelty of the shootout has worn off. I think we should have 5 minutes of 4 on 4, followed by 5 minutes of 3 on 3 and if no one wins, let it end in a tie. i'm a big boy, I can live with hard fought ties.
...Wilson was a man on fire. as was smith.
...thought the size and strength of LA really is what shut down Forsberg-neal.
...two pk's in the last 5 minutes of a tie hockey game is not good for my heart.
...as we have in every game this year, we gave a great effort.
...rinne sort of fought the puck all night. when rinne gets beat glove side even once and doesn't make clean catches glove side hardly all game, well you know he's not as sharp as usual. but he's a warrior, and he fought thru it to stand tall.
...if I were beck, i'd still be sorta pissed down deep about Nystrom stealing my goal, lol. that puck was going in cleanly. Nystrom simply grazed it and almost slowed it down enough where it could be stopped
...but what huge goals those two were.
...what a buzz kill the two early period goals from the kings were.
...you still can't get in a race with gaborik and win. what a play and shot that was.
...it appears our pp has become more of a momentum builder than a scorer. shame last night, thought we did all the right things.
...the pp looked so much stronger because we could keep the puck in the zone from the opening faceoff. was really strange, Ribeiro lost every frigging pp faceoff, but every time we still managed to hold the puck in our zone. I counted that happening at least 5 times.
...Forsberg, weber, neal all with unbelievably close chances of winning this game outright. normally you don't win after that many just miss chances.
...hand it to the PK. they played like men last night in crucial kills.

...now if we could just get scoring from the top line....

I agree with it all except the Ties. Never should there ever be a tie imo. I DESPISE TIES

 

[I Will Son]

Also to note, secondary scoring has picked up and our first line has dropped a bit. I think that is partially due to the league taking notice of our top line and paying more attention to defending that line.

 

[NSH615]

Also to note, secondary scoring has picked up and our first line has dropped a bit. I think that is partially due to the league taking notice of our top line and paying more attention to defending that line.

That and the Kings had a field day last night knocking Forsberg around. He's still needs to bulk up to be effective against some of the bigger goonish teams like the Kings.

 

[ILikeItILoveIt]

lol ilikeit, almost my exact day as well

Opps, forgot one:
Read thru the GDT, starting with the beginning of the game. Always fun to read the real time reactions and ride the emotional rollercoaster when you know how it ends, and its a good ending.

BTW, when we lose, and especially when we're on a losing streak, I detach until the next game. Still read "Observations" so I can wallow with my brethren, but can't handle too much re-living of a loss. I try to rediscover the Pred-less world around me. Denial is a powerful tool when used correctly.

 

[bdub24]

A Day in the life ......
Go to the sold out game last night with family & friend - check
Go wild all night, watch great game, win, 2-pts - check
Listen to post-game to re-live game - check
Go thru twitter feed to re-live game again - check
Hit the morning treadmill, re-watch goals and shootouts on DVR - check
Watch highlights on NHL Channel to get their reaction - check
Check standing cuz I love to see Preds on top - check
Read thru "Observations" thread while eating lunch - check
Think ahead to tomorrow nights game - check
Start worrying it's a trap game against the lowly Oilers who give us fits - check
Sit back and be thankful for The Pred Life - checkmate

You weren't in a suite in section 212 were you? Had a rowdy bunch in the suite behind me and it was awesome!

 

[bdub24]

That and the Kings had a field day last night knocking Forsberg around. He's still needs to bulk up to be effective against some of the bigger goonish teams like the Kings.

I felt like there were about a thousand interference calls not made last night. Must be cup latitude.

 

[Adz]

So very much wish I was still living in Nashville to see the team live. Is the 3rd period standing ovation still a thing during the TV timeout?

Sometimes. There were a couple last night not tied to that specific time out--just sustained cheering for good work. I kind of worried that the first one was too early in the game--those seem to bite us occasionally, so I was bowing to superstition. But I thought it was deserved. There was another one after the 2 quick goals in the second, and maybe one nearer the end. Not positive on the last one--may have just been usual cheering at the end of a game instead of standing O type cheering. It all seemed pretty spontaneous, though.

 

[NSH615]

I felt like there were about a thousand interference calls not made last night. Must be cup latitude.

It's called the Tim Peel effect. He ref'd last night's game.

 

[triggrman]

I don't know how much stronger Forsberg can get on his skates, but I'd like to see it.