Why Nashville Predators will win the Semi-Final Series against Phoenix Coyotes –NHL Playoffs Special
There is not any doubt in the fact that this 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Playoff Semi-Final series has great value for the Nashville Predators as it is just the second time in franchise history that the team has managed
to get past the first round.
Last year was the breaking point as Predators advanced to round two after a surprising first round victory against the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 but lost to Vancouver Canucks in the semi-finals.
Now, as Nashville is a team to have advanced, their fan base and team management is expected the Predators to return home as at least the Western Conference champions, if not hoisting the Stanley Cup above their shoulders.
Looking at how the series against Phoenix Coyotes has played out up until now, it seems like the Nashville Predators will be ousted once Game 4 arrives but doubting them would be Phoenix’s biggest mistake no questions asked.
Predators are an extremely resilient team that showed in the regular season as teams dropped and moved up but Nashville stood their ground and kept the position they wanted. They ousted a team like Detroit Red Wings surprisingly in five games only, making
them extremely capable of becoming a Stanley Cup winning team.
The first two games might not be the best hockey Nashville has played but it also was not the worst. The mistake Nashville did was forgetting to play physical against a defensive team like Phoenix along with keeping the same strategy they had against Detroit
Red Wings.
"As I said, our best players have to be our best players and they weren't in the first two games," he said. "For spurts they were, more so in the first game than the second one. We're going to need production from everyone in the line-up. Our top players
have to be our top players and so far, that's not the case. We're getting beat with our own formula: good goaltending, a healthy dose of team defence and a healthy dose of work ethic and we've got to get back to our game a little bit," Nashville head coach,
Barry Trotz, said.
Mike Smith is performing wonderfully in front of the Phoenix net, but in reality, these past two games have been won by Coyotes purely due to their defensive uproar. The Coyotes played great defence, especially in Game 2, while Nashville’s veteran goalie,
Pekka Rinne, choked.
A slight change in the Nashville line-up could mean the difference for the Predators heading into Game 3 like changing Roman Josi out and bringing in veteran players like Francis Bouillon and Hal Gill.
Goaltending will remain to be the main factor in Nashville making a comeback at home but will need to win in foreign territory eventually as Phoenix holds the home-ice advantage.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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