The Preds continued their hot streak on the road last night by hanging on to win 3-2 in Vancouver. Nashville yet again surrendered a 2-0 lead in the third, but Steve Sullivan made an incredible play to follow up on his own breakaway attempt and score with just over five minutes remaining. The pattern of relinquishing leads (four out of the past five games) continues to be a concern, but a win is a win. The Preds (7-3-1) are now alone in first place in the Central Division, and they take on a tough Edmonton Oilers team (7-4) in Alberta tonight. Edmonton is 6-0 at home this season, and Nashville is red-hot overall (7-0-1 since starting the season 0-3) and on the road. Great timing for what should be a great matchup.

The Canucks crowd booed Tomas Vokoun at every opportunity last night. I tuned in late and couldn’t understand why, but apparently he may have “embellished” an early goaltender interference call by falling to the ice. I didn’t see it, but two Canucks bloggers had opinions to share: Amanda and, ahem, Flow.

The Preds take on the Vancouver Canucks on the road tonight. As the Vancouver Sun reports, the Preds are pretty hot right now, but they generally don’t play well in British Columbia. Nashville is 3-10-1 all-time (with the 1 being a tie prior to the arrival of the shootout) at Vancouver, but a lot of those losses were absorbed by less talented Preds teams. It should be another good test for a young and promising Preds squad. Here’s hoping the Preds get out to a steady lead and, for once this season, hold onto it. Go Preds!!

The Preds (5-3-1) edged the Sharks (7-4) by a score of 4-3 last night in a thrilling, fast and physical matchup. Here are my answers for yesterday’s three questions:

1. I don’t think the Preds’ five-day break between games or the Sharks’ game on Wednesday night seemed to matter much on the ice. This was a hard-fought, physical game the whole way through, and it was really fun to watch.
2. The Preds outshot the Sharks 29-27 and, most importantly, considerably reduced their shots against from 46 during their previous game. That’s a good sign.
3. The Sharks still outmuscled the Preds at times in the first and third periods, but the Preds’ size upgrades were noticeable on the ice. They dominated the second period, too.

Here are a few other observations I had while watching the game. Both teams forecheck aggressively, and that made for a lot of back-and-forth skating. On the Sharks goal that opened the scoring at 1-0, Dan Hamhuis only partially connected on his signature hip check near the left boards, and Joe Thornton (who was a beast all night) shook it off and found Mark Bell for an easy goal.

Alexander Radulov’s score to tie the game at 1-1 was a wicked wrister that caught Sharks goalie Vesa Toskala totally off guard. Not bad for Radulov’s first NHL goal. As he should have, Radulov was exuberant in the wake of the score and leapt off the ice before being surrounded by his teammates. Radulov logged about 11 minutes of ice time and was all over the place during play. He looks to be a stud in waiting behind a talented set of Preds forwards. He easily slipped behind the Sharks defense a couple of times and was blazing fast at times. He played sound positionally on most shifts and had a couple of solid checks, too. He didn’t hesitate to get in front of Toskala in the second period and attempt a redirect on a shot from the point, either.

Scott Hartnell was a force on the ice all night. His goal to make the score 2-1 came on a pretty tic-tac-toe passing play that left him alone in front of the net. His second goal late in the contest, the eventual game winner, was all hustle and a brilliant play, as he bounced the puck off Toskala from behind the goal. The Arnott, Kariya and Erat line played extremely well all night and continues to be huge for the Preds. Erat, in particular, stands out in my mind so far this season as the team’s most improved player. Tomas Vokoun was exceptional in net, as usual, and he bailed the Preds out at times in the third. I am concerned that the Preds yet again surrendered a two-goal advantage in allowing the Sharks to tie the game 3-3, but they didn’t buckle down the stretch.

All in all, this was a good way to wrap up a short homestand and head out for a long road trip on a high note. We’ll see how the team plays as it makes the typically tough Northwest swing through Canada over the next week or so. Go Preds!

The Preds (4-3-1) are back in action tonight hosting the San Jose Sharks (7-3) , and I’m pondering the following questions as they prepare to take the ice:

1. What will matter more: the Preds’ five-day break since losing to Vancouver on Saturday, or the Sharks’ loss to the Red Wings last night?
2. Which team will give up more shots tonight? The Preds (46) or the Sharks (39), who both were heavily outshot in their last contests.
3. How will the Preds matchup with the Sharks now that the Preds have added some size at forward (Arnott, Dumont and Vasicek, the last of whom is likely out for tonight)?

We’ll see in a few hours. This one should make for a good game. Go Preds!!

True and very challenging words to live up to, courtesy of your Nashville Predators.

The Preds run a tight ship, and they didn’t hesitate to throw us in the penalty box. We didn’t mind so much.

My wife and I attended the Preds Meet the Team party last night at the Arena. We had a ball. This is a great event done absolutely right by a great organization. (Thanks to my friend Chris Woodruff for the photos.)

You can’t win them all, but I see some concerns emerging for the Preds after last night’s loss to the Canucks. Some of these concerns have been lingering despite the recent win streak.

Vokoun is facing too many shots. He saw more than 45 last night, and though he’s still playing outstanding right now, he can’t expected to perform miracles and bail this team out every night. It wasn’t all late in the game while holding the lead, either. The Preds were heavily outshot in the first period before they leveled things out in the second.

The Preds are surrendering late leads, too. It happened during the recent road trip, but the Preds eked out a win in New Jersey anyway. Last night, Vancouver scored with 1:40 left in the third before winning the game in overtime. On the heels of allowing two goals in the final two minutes against New Jersey Thursday night, this is a pattern. It’s a bad one.

Alexander Radulov’s debut, according to The Tennessean, met with mixed reviews. He didn’t record a point in limited ice time, and he took a bad penalty in the third that shifted momentum. I wasn’t expecting an all-star night on the very first try, though, and I am sure Radulov will settle in over the next few games.

On a positive note, Martin Erat scored again for the Preds. He’s averaging a point per game so far this season and looks strong on the ice. Erat and the rest of the Preds now have until Thursday to enjoy their road trip success and recover from Saturday’s defeat. They take on last years playoff foe, the San Jose Sharks, at home next.

Can the Preds make it five in a row tonight against the Canucks? I hope so, and I hope the Canucks also used up all their luck last night when they beat Saint Louis 3-2. Vancouver scored with less than a minute remaining in the third to tie the game, and they scored again (depending on whom you ask) as the clock expired in overtime to earn the win.

This looks to be an even matchup on paper. The Preds are 4-3, and the Canucks are 4-3-1. I’m stoked about Alexander Radulov making his regular-season Preds debut. I won’t be there tonight, but I can’t wait to see what happens. Go Preds!

I can’t wait to see Alexander Radulov play for the Preds, and he’ll be playing for them soon.

How good is he? I don’t know yet, but the odds are good that he’ll be outstanding even on the NHL level. He posted junior-level numbers near what Mario Lemieux did in the early 80s, and he was named this season’s first AHL player of the week–during his first-ever week in the league. I guess he earned it with seven points in three games.

It’s easy to fall into hyperbole with promising young players, but Alexander looks like the real deal.

Let’s hear it for the Preds! Going undefeated on multigame road trip is impressive, especially three games in the greater Big Apple area. Last night’s 4-3 shootout victory is the Preds’ fourth in a row, so they’ve gone from ice cold to red hot in one week’s time. Here’s the AP story on the Devils’ site, too.

It was nice to see Jason Arnott tally against his former team, as did Martin Erat, who again looked solid throughout. Erat also netted the lone goal for either team in the shootout. I am hoping that the end of the third period will teach the Preds that they can’t sit on any lead, no matter how much time is left. Coach Peterson is quoted in the Preds’ recap story, and he’s right: They definitely laid back over the last several minutes of the period. Surrendering a 3-1 margin in the final two minutes is ugly, but at least Nashville recovered and reclaimed the win in the shootout.

I’ll be awfully impressed to see the Preds take out the New Jersey Devils tonight off the turnpike. Going undefeated on a three-game road trip, especially one covering the greater NYC metro area, would be an impressive feat and a resounding rebound from the Preds’ woeful start to the season.

This is a homecoming of sorts for new Preds center Jason Arnott, who hoisted the Stanley Cup as a Devil in 2000 before eventually signing with Dallas, his last stop before landing in Nashville. It’s a reunion of sorts for Nashville, too, because the Devils would now call Nashville home if not for the Devils’ first Cup championship in 1995. A sixth-seeded Devils team rode a red-hot Martin Brodeur and a stifling defense to the title that year and played itself right out of needing to move to a new city.

Speaking of Arnott, I’ve been very pleased to see his play along with linemates Martin Erat and Paul Kariya recently. They are a good combination of size, skill and speed, and they anticipate each other’s positions on the ice well. This is shaping up to be an excellent line for the Preds. I’ve never been one to nickname lines, but this one has me wanting to start. My first choices so far are the Crisis Line (because they have the numerical combination 9-1-1 in their jersey numbers: 19, 10 and 9 respectively) or .38 Special (because their jersey numbers add up to 38.