Wins and losses in the NHL come in many shapes and sizes and have varying effects on players and fans. Last night's loss by the Predators was one of those that did not sit well with anyone that follows the team. A loss on a bad play and a blooded up captain can have that effect.
The Preds led for most of the game and gave up a late goal to send it to overtime and then did not play to the whistle in the final shift of the game which led to an easy goal for Zach Bogosian and a big win for the red hot Atlanta Thrashers.
In hindsight, the reality of last night's game is that the Predators should be very happy that they survived long enough to get to overtime and were able to capture a loser point to add to their total in a very tightly bunched Western Conference.
The Predators were out-played in the faceoff circle the entire game and did little to control the pace and flow of the game. If not for some key saves by Anders Lindback and a few lucky breaks along the way, the Predators would have gone home with nothing.
So the Predators wake up in Detroit this morning and are at 30 points in the middle of a pack of 10 teams that have between 32 and 29 points. The way the season is going there are going to be plenty of ups and downs for everyone.
Any point or two that a team gets is crucial and the Preds should be happy with the one that got and focus on tomorrows game with the Wings and avoid the complete no-show that they had on their last visit to Joe Louis Arena. You can't find points in the rear-view mirror so they need to focus forward and take home two from Detroit.
Preds-Thrashers Round-Up...
Here is our game story from last night.
Josh Cooper had his game story, notes column and postgame ponderings.
From the blog world reports come from Amanda DiPaolo, Mark Willoughby, Chris Burton (with advances stats), Hockey Night in Nashville, and Fang Finger Fever files his report from the arena first hand.
For the happy side of the game story, check out The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Blueland Blog, the Ice Man, Bird Watchers Anonymous, Thrashing the Blues, As the Birds Thrash, Thrasher Backer, and Blueland Chronicle.
In Pred Nation...
Jim Diamond is working hard to come up with a name for the new line of Marty Erat, Sergei Kostisyn, and Marcel Goc. The sad news is that by the time they get a name, Barry Trotz will split them up. I'm still a fan of the old vowel line from the early years of the franchise, not so much the players, but the term.
Josh Cooper had the latest on ex-Pred and good guy, Chris Mason before last nights game.
Sam at Preds Blog has some disturbing news about Kevin Klein. He also has a two-part interview with local boy R.A Dickey at AmazinAvenue.
Jas Faulkner has her weekly Greetings from Smashville at The Hockey Writers.
The Ottawa Citizen has a Wicked Delivery of Force in a story about Shea Weber.
Around the NHL...
The Penguins chalked up their tenth win in a row last night as Sidney picked up a couple of more points.
Bill Guerin is officially calling it quits after a long fruitful career.
Another recent retiree, Joe Sakic is attending the Board of Governors meetings with the Avalanche entourage in order to learn the business.
For the first time, there appears to be solid evidence that the Coyotes may have a legitimate buyer that could closed on the team before the end of the year. Matthew Hulsizer met with the NHL BOG yesterday with Gary Bettman leading him around. Here is an interview from AZ Vibe and another story from Chris Johnson.
Sidney Crosby, Ryan Miller and Taylor Hall were named the NHL's three stars of the week yesterday.
Another great Thirty Thoughts from Elliotte Friedman with a thought about motivating players.
Bryan Trottier stands ready to help the Islanders so he says in this interview from Chris Botta.
Fred Poulin has the breakdown of Selke Trophy contenders. There's never a Predator in sight.
Adrian Dater reports that Matt "Duchy" Duchene is now on Twitter. He was at 418 lat night when I added him. I'd say he's pushing 1000 by today.
TSN's latest poll on who is the best NHL player is no real surprise with Sidney Crosby having his best year. What is surprising is that Alexander Ovechkin only rings up about 4% and is a distant third. It is hard to believe how much his stock has fallen. Is it too late to put the Lightning and Stamkos in this year's Winter Classic?
Houses of the Hockey takes a "Where are they now?" look at last year's SCF goaltenders.
The NBC Winter Classic commercial is out. I hope that this violent rain storm is not a precursor to the actual New Years day weather in Pittsburgh. That is my greatest fear in attending this year's Classic.
Odds and Ends...
Google is taking on Amazon in the E-Book market. This will probably get bloody but could lower prices for consumers.
Local Comic producer and Nashville Roller Girl poster maker, Eric Powell has gone mainstream with "An Irish Wake" at USA Today.
More Later...
Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass
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