Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Blues Recap

The good news, the Preds have gotten two points so far, the bad news, they have given up four to divisional opponents. To steal Trotz's word, last night was a "man's game." There was plenty of hitting, there were a couple of scrums, and healthy amount of penalties.

The Good: Colin Wilson continued to look phenomenal. Wilson's puck handling and passing has looked top line worthy. He may finally be the forward we all want him to be.
While I am not ready to call him Ryan Suter, Roman Josi has looked beyond exceptional in these first two games. He is moving the puck well, and not making the rookie mistakes he made last year. While I believe Josi will need to gain some muscle the kid has looked great so far.
Ryan Ellis has also been impressive in the first two games. Ellis could also add some muscle, but he has great stick work and positioning to make up for his small size. Then there is his offensive game, the defenseman has a nose for the puck and makes exceptional break out passes, example: Colin Wilson's goal against the blues.

The Bad News: Pekka did not look good in the shoot out against the blues, both Oshie and Steen scored with relative ease. On the other hand, it was Pekka and a couple of simply ridiculous saves that got the Preds to the shoot out.
Craig Smith has not looked up to game speed. The second year forward has made several bad give always, landing him in Trotz's dog house. Smith needs to get back to shooting the puck, he only had one shot against the blues. Don't be surprised if Smith gets benched versus the wild tonight.
Several Preds, including Sergei Kostitsyn missed open net chances that could have given the Preds a two goal lead.

A final note, do not blow this out of proportion, the Preds got 2 of 4 possible points, it isn't exactly what we want, but it is not a bad start. This team is showing skill as they knock off the rust. The Preds will be alright.

Game day preview later.

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