11/7/09 - Nashville at Los Angeles: W 3-1

This afternoon, I was fortunate enough to see a radio-only game (in both markets) live at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Traffic on the 101 was hellacious but I finally managed to get to my seat just a few minutes after the initial puck drop. I have to say that I wasn't exactly sure how this game was going to play out since we were coming in to face a team on a hot streak, in their own arena no less. And I honestly didn't know what to think after witnessing what I did on Thursday. Somehow or another, we pulled it out. Our defense found a way to score and the certainly not permanent second line of Joel Ward-David Legwand-Jerred Smithson continued to generate the offense.

Here's some more observations from today's game that I didn't post via Twitter.

THE GOOD:

Martin Erat's back! And look what he managed to do when not paired with David Legwand...interesting, interesting. He did, however, still manage to be a ballerina-esque puck hog out there for a few shifts as well.

I kind of like the Tootoo-Goc-Scatchard line. Wait, what am I saying?!

Still loving the second line and waiting to see how long Trotz will let them stay together.

Surprising that we were able to hold off the Kings from scoring for two periods.

Shocked that Bouillion was the guy to put it on the board for us, on the PP no less.

Cody Franson shows up big time today with a goal and an assist. I really liked his game today and still find it hard to believe he is actually playing for us.

THE BAD:

Are we back to fancy passing again? What happened to taking the freaking shot?!

Stupid penalties to end the first. A lot of stupid penalties today and too many in the third, especially.

Jason Arnott was pretty much non-existent today. Do not like. Well, the entire top line was pretty much non-existent today. We need JP back soon.

THE UGLY:

LA traffic suuuuuucks.

Quick's stick throw was a desperate move to protect his net but I can't say a goalie for us wouldn't do the same in a similar situation.

Side Note: If any of you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed that I said David Beckham was in the house. Yes, I know it's L.A. and celebrity sightings are to be expected but it was DAVID BECKHAM. That's a pretty big international celebrity sighting. Here's my proof if you don't believe me (picture quality isn't amazing but trust me, it's him)Okay, so the Predators website has a much better picture of him. At least it's proof I wasn't lying. Image by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

Sadly, this now concludes my west coast road trip. Honda Center once again kicked my butt and the Staples Center was a whirlwind of the unexpected. I laughed, I cried (not really), I cheered, I booed (maybe a little). It was awesome and I can't wait to do it again.