Nashville Predators

Double Minors: Sabres grind one out in Nashville

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The story from last night is focused on the Jordin Tootoo hit on Ryan Miller. What may be lost is the fact that Buffalo managed to get back into the win column on the legs of a great goaltending performance and a three goal night, despite being badly outshot.

The Tootoo incident is tough to diagnose. The original camera angle looks like a hockey play, it is the reverse angle that shows there may have been a little more intent on Tootoo’s part to collide with Miller. Obviously the argument over his reputation will be a big topic regarding the play, but there seems to be two key ingredients that will likely result in a suspension. It is tough to say if Tootoo could have found his way behind the net, but that will certainly be an issue. Tootoo jumped into the hit and made some effort to avoid Miller but his effort also helped carry him further into the goaltender. Based on the precedent set from the Lucic hit, Tootoo will get a pair of games. If this was a solitary incident, he may escape justice.

Regardless of that play, the Sabres played a neat game that was worthy of two points. Miller was certainly the difference for the Sabres – they were outshot 34-14 – but the line of Luke Adam, Ville Leino and Zack Kassian came to play too.

Based on the recent track record of this team, two points is a step in the right direction. The next step will be to carry the play on their way to a sound victory.

  • Zack Kassian will need to go back to the AHL at some point. He clearly has the chops to play at the NHL level, he just needs to refine a few portions of his game (defensive zone, skating). Kassian’s goal is one that Sabres fans will see a lot more of. At one time Kassian was a pretty prime piece for a major trade, now he might be an “untouchable prospect.”
  • Joe Finley was only so-so in his NHL debut. Considering he is finally turning a corner in his development, he may still have a few more steps to take. He wasn’t horrible in these two games, which was certainly a possibility.
  • Ville Leino notched his first multi-point game in Buffalo. That is a good step for a guy who looks to be struggling to adopt “the system”. He is working well with Kassian and Adam – he has worked well with a few lines this season, but they haven’t been kept together. Depending on the length of Boyes’ injury, this line could stay together for quite a while. That is promising for all three players, not just Leino.
  • Miller had a good game. His highway robbery in the third period was great to see. That is one of those saves that make people put him in the top ten among the NHL’s goaltenders each season. His big test will come Wednesday against Philly. He had a rough outing last time and will certainly need to right the ship on home ice.
  • Christian Ehrhoff is in straight up beast mode. He is playing major minutes in major situations and is playing well. He also just about ripped off Patric Horqvist’s head after he hit  Miller twice in the third. Major props.
  • Only other thought regarding Miller and Tootoo is that the cards fell in an awfully coincidental manner. Tootoo, Miller in his first game back, first game since gettin bowled over by Lucic. Tootoo may have tried to avoid Miller, but given the circumstances it seems fishy.

Three Stars

1. Luke Adam

2. Ryan Miller

3. David Legwand

NHL Links

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Morning Skate: Sabres searching for answers in Smashville

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Everyone is starting to run out of answers regarding the Sabres’ play as of late. The line combos aren’t working, play in goal has been average and injuries are mounting. Buffalo is 1-4-1 in their last six and have shown little in recent games.

A trip to Nashville probably isn’t the best medicine for a struggling club. The Preds are sitting in 11th out West, but play a stifling style that isn’t going to be conducive for solving the Sabres’ scoring woes. On the bright side, the Sabres play much better hockey on the road. So they’re got that going for them. Which is nice.

Ryan Miller is expected to make his return to the crease tonight. It will be his first action since being concussed/whiplashed in a collision with Milan Lucic on November 12. It should be noted that Miller’s play appeared to be taking an uptick based on his final two periods against Winnipeg and his first period play in Boston. Hopefully whatever he was battling has been expelled from his game and he will return to the form we saw over the first three weeks of the season.

Of note, the Predators Tweeted that Buffalo native Chris Mueller will make his season debut tonight. Cue the Bucky column on the Buffalo boy now. I’ll toss in and extra five bucks if he manages to hit on Tim Kennedy’s whereabouts in tomorrow’s piece too.

The Sabres have been bad from top to bottom as of late, so there isn’t one thing one could point to as a key for tonight. Obviously controlling the play and hitting the net would be a wonderful place to start given Buffalo’s recent scoring woes. Getting Thomas Vanek back on track would be helpful too, perhaps removing the king of bad angle shots from his line would be a good starting block there.

Highlighted Matchup

Ryan Miller. While it is inconclusive if Miller is getting the nod tonight, his play could end up being crucial for the Sabres’ success. Jhonas Enroth has been admirable in relief for Miller, while he has had some shaky outings over the last week, quite often Enroth has not gotten the necessary goal support to win. If Miller keeps the Preds to two or less he will have done all he needs to allow his team to get a victory.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 11GP 5-6-1, 2.86 GAA, .909 SV%

NSH: Pekka Rinne 23GP 10-8-4, 2.57 GAA, .921 SV%

Last Game

3/20/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 3 – Predators 4 OT

*stats to come later*

2ITB NHL preview: The West

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Since it is a yearly occurrence for the West to have 13 teams in the playoff race and two team at least 20 points out of eighth, I struggled to find a good balance of picks this season. I made a bold choice with the Kings last year. While I don’t have them coming out of the West, I have made a similarly bold statement

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Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round two recap

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I was 50% with my second round picks, that leaves me at 8/12 for the playoffs thus far. The second round wasn’t nearly the epic that came with the first eight series. However, the Western Conference managed to provide a few decent moments before the conference semi-finals wrapped up. Otherwise, two sweeps left most wanting more out East.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#5 Tampa Bay Lightning defeat #1 Washington Capitals 4-0


I was fairly certain that Dwayne Roloson and the Lightning weren’t capable of continuing their magic from the first round. However, Washington reverted back to form from early in the season. Alex Ovechkin was a ghost and Michael Neuvirth was average. Tampa Bay has found scoring from their big guns in addition to their role players, namely Sean Bergenheim. They face a steep climb against the Bruins, probably the most physical team in the 2011 Playoffs. Turning point: Tampa’s 3-2 overtime win in game two. Took first two games in Washington. MVP: Sean Bergenheim – 4 goals, has 7+1 through 11 playoff games thus far. Continue reading →

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round one recap

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

To say the first round of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs were highly entertaining would be a massive understatement.

Half of the series went to a game seven and three of the four deciding games were spectacular. The one exception was the 5-2 drubbing the Flyers put on the Sabres. The other four series were equally entertaining. I would say the Caps 4-1 triumph and Detroit’s sweep of the Desert Dogs were the only ho-hum parts of the first round.

Eastern Conference

#1 Washington Capitals defeat #8 New York Rangers 4-1

I had the Caps winning in five, which really is no great stretch of a prediction. This could have shaped up to be a much different series had Marian Gaborik not gift-wrapped the game four overtime goal for Jason Chimera. The Capitals improved defense was strong as was Michael Neuvirth. Washington scored timely goals and Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t enough to counter the superior match up. Turning point: Marian Gaborik’s gaffe leads to OT winning goal to give Washington a 3-1 series lead. MVP: Michael Neuvirth – 4-1, 1.38 GAA, .946 SV% Continue reading →

2ITB first-round predictions

Chris Ostrander2 Comments

After going just about o’fer on my regular season predictions, here is a look at who I think will advance in the first round of the NHL Playoffs.

East

1. Washington Capitals vs. 8. New York Rangers

This is an interesting series. If Ryan Callahan was healthy and the Rangers had better scoring depth they could really give the Caps a run. However, they don’t have those two things. The Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist and block a lot of shots. It ends there. The Caps play good defense and can score in bunches. Their goaltending is quite suspect but Alex Ovechkin has been heating up over the last half of the season. Plus, Jason Arnott and Scott Hannan were two fantastic acquisitions by George McPhee. Caps in five.

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Looking back at my conference predictions

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A prognosticator I am not. My mock NFL Draft senior year was about 15% correct. When I went about predicting the NHL’s playoff picture back in October, I didn’t have high hopes. Let us see how 2ITB did:

East

Prediction – 1. WAS, 2. PIT, 3. BOS, 4. NJD, 5. BUF, 6. OTT, 7. MTL, 8. PHI, 9. NYR, 10. CAR, 11. TOR, 12. TBL, 13. NYI, 14. ATL, 15. FLA

Actual – 1. WAS, 2. PHI, 3. BOS, 4. PIT, 5. TBL, 6. MTL, 7. BUF, 8. NYR, 9. CAR, 10. TOR, 11. NJD, 12. ATL, 13. OTT, 14. NYI, 15. FLA

So I was a bit off in the middle. Not too many people would have bet on that epic collapse by New Jersey and I, admittedly put far too much stock in Brian Elliott and Pascal Leclaire. Philadelphia overachieved (according to my original calculation) and I vastly underestimated Tampa Bay.

Washington was a pretty easy choice to make, as was keeping Atlanta, Florida and the Islanders at the bottom. Otherwise it was a hodgepodge of close calls and near misses.

West

Prediction – 1. LA, 2. VAN, 3. CHI, 4. SJ, 5. DET, 6. NSH, 7. ANA, 8. CGY, 9. COL, 10. PHX, 11. STL, 12. DAL, 13. MIN, 14. CBJ, 15. EDM

Actual – 1. VAN, 2. SJ, 3. DET, 4. ANA, 5. NSH, 6. PHX, 7. LA, 8. CHI, 9. DAL, 10. CGY, 11. STL, 12. MIN, 13. CBJ, 14. COL, 15. EDM

Since the West is such a crap shoot it would have been pretty hard to predict either way. I gave LA too much credit and it turns out the Hawks didn’t have close to enough depth to compete at the level they did last year.

My biggest oversight was with Colorado at nine, turns out they really stink. The Western playoff picture is extremely interesting this season, with the amount of parity out there it isn’t a stretch to say that any team can advance and any team could have finished two to four places higher.

Craig Rivet waived by Buffalo

Chris Ostrander7 Comments

The Buffalo Sabres placed Craig Rivet on waivers this morning. I learned the info via Bob McKenzie’s twitter account. In addition to Rivet, former Sabre Ales Kotalik was waived by Calgary along with Nik Zherdev (PHI) and Marek Svatos (NSH).

Kind of crazy to see Svatos waived. The Preds poached the winger from St. Louis when they signed him out of the KHL earlier in the winter.

It is about time that Rivet was given some sort of out. He has been stuck in the press box for quite some time, he deserved better than the fate he was receiving.

I wonder what will come of the Rivet situation? Do they send him to the AHL? Or are they confident a team like Montreal, Vancouver or Toronto will claim him? Either way, the next 24 hours could be interesting to watch.

Blowing up the Predators

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The Nashville Predators made some very interesting moves this afternoon.

First, they shipped UFA to-be Dan Hamhuis to the Philadelphia Flyers for a conditional pick in 2011 and Ryan Parent. Secondly, they sent captain Jason Arnott to the New Jeresey Devils in exchange for winger Matt Halischuk and a second-round pick in 2011. Lastly, they resigned defenseman Francois Bouillon to a two-year $2.7 million contract.

So, in one afternoon, the Predators traded away two major players and reupped one 4th/5th defenseman.

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