by: Frederick Breedon, Getty ImagesPhysical presence of Shea Weber will be important as Nashville takes on Vancouver global no. 1.
By Frederick Breedon, Getty ImagesPhysical presence of Shea Weber will be important as Nashville takes on Vancouver global no. 1.
How they got here: The predators took down the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in six games to reach the second round for the first time in franchise history. Vancouver needed an overtime goal by Alex Burrows in game 7 to overturn the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.Station series: 2-2. Total goals: Nashville 8-6goalkeepers: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver (4-3, 2.97 goals-against average,. 907 save percentage) vs Pekka Rinne in Nashville (4-2, 3.29.876). With the victory in game 7 of Luongo, he finally won over the fans of Vancouver? Probably not. This will take the Stanley Cup. But beat Chicago probably adds another layer of confidence for a goalie who already has one Olympic gold and two World Championships. Rinne is a finalist for the Vezina trophy, but it can/should be better than it was in the first round. He has the ability to steal a game or a series.Story line: Before you start feeling sorry for the predators, looking for the series of the season and look at the statistics that show the power game of Nashville was as effective as Vancouver in the first round. With the NHL's top defensive pairing in Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, the predators play a defensive style that is supposed to be effective at playoff time. Nashville is supposed to be the team that strives to score, but in the first round, the predators found the net more often than Vancouver. Forces the Canucks is that they have top 3 offensive stars series Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kesler. Nashville has no flag companies with a lot of skill. The predators won confidence with the victory of the first inning, but the Canucks won their merit by survivors of the series Blackhawks. That seemed to be a cage match. The Canucks are above average of good to excellent in all aspects of the game.Who's hot: Jordin Tootoo Nashville right has five points in six games and impressed the hockey world with his level of play. He now is a plague that learned to play under control.What is not: Vancouver Christian Ehrhoff Defender. If you're playing almost 23 minutes per game, you shouldn't have worst plus-minus of the team (minus-4)injuries: Vancouver, C Manny Malhotra (eye) is out of season. D Sami Salo (leg) is questionable for game 1. Nashville RW Martin Erat (upper body) hopes to play in game 1.Time: If you're comparing rosters, Vancouver is easy to choose. But if you watched Nashville playing regularly, you realize that predators compete aggressively for any team in the League. It is difficult to connect passes against them. Take Nashville in a six-game upset.For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ. To report corrections and clarifications, contact standards Editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We've updated the guidelines of the conversation. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation of how to use the "report abuse" button. Read more.
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