Nashville Predators Ready for Some Home Cookin’
The Nashville Predators will be more than happy to be back in Tennessee for the next few days.
They spent three consecutive games in California between the Ducks and the Sharks and it will good to be home. Back in the house of Gold, where the fans have their backs and can raise them to new heights.
They sure can’t simply rely on that as the San Jose Sharks were the best road team in the league this season. The Sharks went 28-10-3 away from home during the regular season. They also went 3-0 against the Kings in the first round series.
Let’s take a look at the Nashville Predators first home game of this series:
San Jose Sharks
Although the Sharks were the best road team, they had a 1-1-0 record in two games at Nashville. They lost 6-2 on February 6th and won 3-2 in a shootout on April 2nd. After the quiet SAP Center in San Jose that had plenty of empty seats, the Smashville crowd may be able to intimidate them a bit as they raise the Bridgestone roof with their energy.
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The Sharks have been outplayed or played even by the Predators in both previous games except for the third period of the first game when the Preds looked worn out. Nashville outhit, outshot and outskated the Sharks last game and are confident that they can beat this team.
Martin Jones has been very solid if unspectacular and the pucks have been dropping his way. The Sharks biggest weapon is their Power Play which was ranked third in the regular season which was behind the Ducks but looks much more potent in this series. They have scored two Power Play goals and the Preds need to stay out of the box.
The Joe Thornton line didn’t even have a shot until well into the third period in that second game. They have more than one line but that is their big scoring line. They have been outplayed at five on five. Of the Sharks eight goals, three have been on the Power Play and three have been into an empty net. That leaves just two goals in two games at five on five.
Nashville Predators
The biggest thing the Nashville Predators need is some Puck Luck. Hopefully, some home cookin’ can cure that. If they play like they did in the last game, they have every reason to believe they will win this next game. Some of those pucks have to find their way into the net. They had 39 shots on goal which would normally equate to nearly four goals. Lady Luck owes them.
They need some firepower from their big cannons. Filip Forsberg, James Neal, and Ryan Johansen have to score. They should expect at least a goal from their offensive defense as well, perhaps from Roman Josie. Or maybe Shea Weber could hit the twine instead of facemasks and Martin Jones.
Pekka Rinne has been more than he should need to be so far in this series. If he can keep it up and the pucks start dropping on the other end, the Sharks could leave Nashville rather dejected after having lost their two-game lead. There is every reason to believe that could be the case.
Prediction
We really believe that this series is ready to make a 180-degree turn. The first game could actually be a blowout by the Predators. The Sharks sit back just a bit and the Nashville Predators turn it up just that much. We are predicting a 4-1 Predators win that turns things around. How’s that for a bold prediction?
We sure hope that Gnash and the Preds Energy team have made a clean sweep of the Bridgestone to make sure that the only cats that are near the ice are either named Gnash or have a bunch of fins. Go Preds!