The Morning After Round-Up: Predators 3, Canucks 1

Hal Gil made his home debut for the Predators last night and picked up an assist on the Sergei Kostitsyn's short-handed goal. The score sheet also that he had a shot blocked, had two hits, and picked up three takeaways in 16:05 of play.

Gill's impact on the ice did not necessarily show up in the statistics. He was obtained to be a veteran big body who would be a stay at home defenseman, kill penalties, and lead the team deep into the playoffs.

The two biggest pains in the rear to the Predators over the last couple of years on the Vancouver Canucks have clearly been Ryan Kesler, who had the playoff series of his career against the Preds last spring, and Alexander Burrows, who may be the most hated enemy player in Smashville for numerous reasons.

Gill's presence in the game helped neutralize both to an extent.

Gill was on the ice with Kesler for much of the night and banged him around a few times and made him less effective around the Predators' net. Kesler was -1 for the evening and was limited to three shots.

Burrows was playing his usual game and made the mistake ruffling Shea Weber's feathers and was very fortunate that Weber just tackled him as opposed to giving him the "Andreas Lilja upper-cut" that took the player out for an extended period and basically ended his career as an effective player.

Gill's role in the Burrows incident was clearly stated by Barry Trotz after the game. "It's a little more of a luxury now, having Hal (Gill) now, a veteran guy with a big body when things like that do happen."

The Predators will take Wednesday off from practice but will be in the community at three events. They return to the Bridgestone Arena ice on Thursday against the St. Louis Blues.

This piece on the Predators by Rory Boylen at the Hockey News was a nice surprise this morning.

Here is our game story from last night, Barry Trotz's postgame presser, and the latest on Shea Weber's beard.  Make the jump for the full round-up of everything from the game...


Main Stream Media...

Josh Cooper: (The Tennessean) Game story - Notes - Postgame Ponderings
David Boclair (The City Paper)
Doug Brumley (Preds.com)
John Manasso (NHL.com)

Digital Media...

Jim Diamond (The Examiner)
Ryan Porth (Smashville 24/7) Game Story - One More Thing
Amanda DiPaolo (Inside Smashville)
Mark Willoughby (The View from 111)
Robby Stanley (Hockey Night in Nashville)
Jeremy Gover (Section 303) Game Story - LeftGovers
Patten Fuqua (Puck Scene)
Sam Page (On The Forecheck)
Paul McCann (HockeyBuzz)
Kris Martel (Predatorial)
Fang Faction

Here is Pete Weber's take this morning from NHL Home Ice

Vancouver Media...

Canucks.com

The Province
Vancouver Sun
FaceOff
Nucks Misconduct
Pucked In The Head
Pass It To Bulis
Canucks Hockey Blog
Canucks Corner
The Canuck Way
Canucks FanZone
Love Our Canucks
Head to the Net
Canucks and Beyond
Canucks Army
Play Me That Ballard
Benched Whale
3:10 to Overtime

Audio from the Predators comes from....

Shea Weber
Hal Gill
Mike Fisher
Ryan Suter

From Vancouver, we hear from...

Dale Weise
Alex Burrows
Henrik Sedin (part 1, part 2)
Cody Hodgson
Sami Salo

Three Stars of the Game...

1. Mike Fisher
2. Pekka Rinne
3. Sergei Kostitsyn

Highlights come from NHL.com...



More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass