Nashville Predators

Game Five - Next Man Up.
May 20, 2017, 9:21 AM ET [27 Comments]
Paul McCann
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The hockey gods have stretched out their fickle finger of fate and shot one helluva knuckle puck at the Nashville Predators. News broke late yesterday that shook Pred Nation like a 7.4 earthquake. Ryan Johansen is gone for the playoffs due to a left thigh injury that required emergency surgery post game Thursday night.

That is a massive blow to the Predators lineup and certainly impacts their chances in this series and, if the Preds can find the intestinal fortitude to get through this series, going forward. Johansen is Nashville's leading scorer in the post season and has proven to be an effective limiter on Ryan Getzlaff and also paid the bonus of getting inside the head of Ryan Kesler, knocking him completely off his game in Game Three.

Add to that the uncertain status of Captain Mike Fisher, who did not play in overtime on Thursday night due to an undisclosed condition and you have the combination that could drive panic in Pred Nation. This is adversity that the Nashville Predators haven’t faced so far in this playoff season.

So… with a few hours to rage, to process and finally, to accept this news… How do the Nashville Predators win tonight? Let’s start off with Anaheim, then we will get to the Preds.

For the Ducks? Show up… play their game. That’s it… that’s all they need. But I do feel the need to call attention to this, merely because it comes from an observer that doesn’t have a dog in this hunt… a Canadian hockey writer (one of the better ones in my view,) Elliotte Friedman, who opined on Sportsnet yesterday morning that “Anaheim is doing the old Detroit Pistons philosophy. And that is that, ‘we’re going to commit a thousand penalties, and we’ll see how many of them they actually call.’” Truer words were never spoken… but the more damning observation was this…
“By the end of the game last night, I don’t know if you saw the highlight pack at the end of the game, the Ducks were basically targeting Rinne’s head, I couldn’t believe what they got away with in overtime. I mean, I know you don’t like to call a penalty in overtime but when someone butt-ends the goalie’s mask, you’ve got to call that, that’s ridiculous.”
S/T to Sportsnet.ca

The play Friedman was referring to was Corey Perry butt ending Pekka Rinne in overtime that wasn’t called… could it not have been seen, possible, but unlikely given the focus of play. Were there uncalled offenses from Nashville… of course… the Predators aren’t choir boys… but the scale is off here… so the main key for Anaheim is to show up…

How do the Predators come into Anaheim and take Game Five? Who replaces Johansen? What if Fisher can’t go? OK… repeat after me… “Hockey is not a one man sport”

Now that we have that mantra… we move on… We have seen this team rise up when under the gun like this… the food poisoning games come to mind… but let’s face it… this one could be a little bit tougher.

Next man up philosophy comes into play here… if Fisher can’t go… what are the options at center? Do you move Calle Jarnkrok up between Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg? We’ve seen that line in the past and they have produced. What about moving Colin Wilson into his natural spot? Do you move Colton Sissons up to the second line between Wilson and James Neal? Do you move Austin Watson up?

Or do you throw a real left turn into the proceedings and dive into the Black Aces and draw Vladislav Kamanev into the lineup? That one intrigues me but it would be against type to expect the Predators to risk such a highly prized center prospect in that way.

You can’t say there aren’t a lot of options… which may be an advantage to press. The element of surprise may be the most valuable piece of this whole situation… As Pred Nation tries to figure out what the lines look like, so is Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle. He can guess, but he doesn't know who he is scheming against, it does make a game plan rather difficult.

A key strength on this team will have to be leveraged and that is the blue line. I expect to see a lot more activation from the defense, more than we have seen in this series… which may leave Pekka Rinne to do some “game one and two against Chicago” things. This team still has strong goal tending and the best top four D remaining in the playoffs.

All is not lost Pred Nation… stay focused and positive… It’s next man up time and we have seen this team do it before. A win tonight and game six is in Smashville and Guinness Book sound records may fall. Game time is 6:15pm on NBC, channel 4 in Nashville, Kenny Albert has the call. Radio coverage begins at 5pm on 102.5 the Game, and the Voice of the Predators Pete Weber has the call on the Predators Radio Network starting at 6. If you want to be with other Pred fans… join the Preds Playoff Party downtown at Hall of Fame Park adjacent to Bridgestone Arena.

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Conference Final Reset

Eastern Conference

PIT vs. OTT – Series tied 2-2 – Game five is tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

Western Conference

ANA vs. NSH – Series tied 2-2 – Game five is tonight in Anaheim.

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Playoff Random Notes

- Just SMH… first Kevin Fiala and now Johansen… oh hockey gods… why must you vex us so?

- Stats to hold on to… the Predators have an all-time postsesaon record of 6-3 at Honda Center. They have not lost back-to-back in this post season.

- While this is not confirmed, it appears that Johansen suffered the injury in the second period of Thursday night’s tilt… and played through the rest of the game.

- Now would be a great time for Colin Wilson to duck into a phone booth and become “Playoff Colin”

- Curious about the status of RIckard Rakell who also left game four with an injury.

- One game in the NHL tonight – 6:15pm – NSH @ ANA (NBC)