Preds v. Hawks Game #2 Postmortem

There were times it was hard for me to tell if Nashville was playing bad or Chicago was just playing better.  There were other times when it was clear that Nashville was playing sub-par--and that was the majority of the game.  Nashville came out in a scramble and just couldn't seem to get anything going.  That empowered chicago and they really took to the attack, but the first period ended even at 0-0.

The first ten minutes of the second period Nashville was on fire.  Even though chicago scored on the power play, Nashville opened a shooting gallery on Niemi and kept the pressure in the Chicago end.  Somewhere around the ten minute mark Nashville broke down and never got it back.  Penalties didn't help, and most of the calls were questionable.  Obvious calls against Chicago were overlooked.  But whether its the regular season or the Playoffs, you can't make excuses period, let alone about poor officiating.  nashville should be well adapted to taking stupid, nonexistent penalties in the Playoffs.  Its always the case, and this year will not be any different because the league has alot riding on a deep Chicago run.  By "alot" I mean "money."  It appears that Game #3 Tuesday night in Nashville is still not sold out, and that is just pathetic.   

It appears that Friday night Chicago played to our level.  They weren't expecting much of a fight from the little guys I guess.  Tonight they brought everything they had and it was too much for Nashville to handle.  I don't think its a permanent condition, I just think Nashville was prepared to play the Chicago of Friday night.  Unfortunately, Chicago came ready to play the Nashville of Friday night, too.  Nashville needs to come home and take Monday to reassess the enemy.  I'm not discouraged. 

No Nashville player, besides Renne, played a noteworthy game in a positive way.  Again, Klein played a noteworthy game in a negative way.  I still am dumbfounded as to why we resigned him earlier in the year and why we continue to play him.  He's not strong in general and he's really showing his weaknesses and proclivity for making "rookie mistakes" even though he's no longer a rookie this Playoff series.  I think Trotz would be well advised to sit him the next game and see what happens.