Game 2 - Pregame

Sunday, 04.29.2012 / 6:34 PM
Same 20 skaters out on the ice for pregame warmups tonight as Game 1 (in numerical order)
  Forwards (13): Erat, Legwand, Fisher, Spaling, Smith, Yip, Hornqvist, Gaustad, Wilson, Anderi Kostitsyn, Radulov, Bourque, Sergei Kostitsyn
  Defensemen (7): Weber, Klein, Suter, Ellis, Bouillon, Josi, Gill

During his pregame media session a few moments ago, Coach Trotz again strongly hinted at lineup changes for tonight with Colin Wilson and Ryan Ellis both being strong candidates to see action tonight.


KEEP AN EYE ON:
1) Defensive Execution -- The Preds were not pleased with their defensive coverage decisions and execution in Game 1. Nashville prides itself on winning games when its scores 3-goals or more; the coaches and players both felt the offense --- especially later in the game --- was good enough to get the win. Look for the team to play more conservative with its defensive zone decision making, though.

2) Faceoffs -- Phoenix's faceoff domination in Game 1 has been the buzz of the series the last day and a half. Look for Nashville to be much more competitive in the faceoff circle tonight. Pay less attention to the faceoff percentage and more at the execution. More dissapointing to the coaches than the percentage (Nashville won only 41% of draws) was the number of times the Preds lost a draw clean; clean losses allow the Coyotes to get right into their set plays, which is harder to defend -- either on a set offensive piece for a draw deep in the Nashville end or on the breakout for draw deep in the Phoenix end.

3) Energy in the Arena -- There is a little more vibrancy around Jobing.com Arena today than there was on Friday night. Look for the crowd to be louder at the outset tonight than it was in Game 1; the first goal will be key for both teams to either -- in Nashville's case -- quiet the crowd, or -- in Phoenix's case -- get the crowd more involved. Friday's 6pm local time start, combined with normal rush hour traffic in the greater Phoenix area, made start of game a tough make for many fans after work. Today, a weekend day with great weather, reduces travel difficulities on the local fans here.

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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