10/24/10 - Nashville at Tampa Bay: W 4-3

Observations:

I almost forgot about my Iron Man status in regards to JP Dumont.  I never should have feared he would miss a full game.  As always, my little Frenchman takes a lick and just keeps on ticking.

It is always hard to see a former goalie in another jersey.  Tomas Vokoun was especially difficult but I think seeing Dan Ellis in a Tampa Bay sweater was right up there on my sadness scale.  Say what you will about the guy but I absolutely loved him.  I want only good things for him, as long as he's not playing against the Predators.

Shea Weber netted his first goal of the season and it wasn't a slap shot from the point.  Dan Ellis probably never saw it coming.

Sergei Kostitsyn got his first goal of the season, with a little help from Jerred Smithson (in his 400th career NHL game), who both pick up their first points of the year.  Ugh.  Does this mean I have to lay off my Russian hate for a while?  

These Tennessee Lottery commercials are so bad, I actually miss the overplayed Live United commercials.

Joel Ward, do you need to be reminded what game you're playing?  This is obviously not baseball.

Too many penalties in the second period.  WAY too many penalties.  Although, I will say the penalty killers were looking pretty sharp.

Wow, that Cody Franson breakaway goal was pretty impressive.  Maybe Steve Sullivan should ask him for some pointers?

It is quite obvious that Tampa Bay has some serious offense.  I haven't seen so much flurry at the net from any of the other teams the Predators have faced so far this year. The defensemen were working overtime to keep the Lightning at bay.

The line of Dumont-Wilson-Erat intrigues me.  Wilson can't be called upon to finish every play.  And as soon as I finished typing this, Colin Wilson scores a goal to make it 4-1.

Those two quick goals from Tampa Bay had to have rattled Anders Lindback's confidence a bit and boy, did that make for a stressful last few minutes of the game. There is no question that just like last night, the goal tending is the reason the Predators were able to walk away with this one.  Though Lindback was a relative unknown at the start of the season, he is definitely starting to make a name for himself.


The team heads back to Nashville tonight with four points in their pockets and visions of a good night's sleep in their heads.  I worried that the late arrival time into Tampa would work against them but this team always seems to step up to the challenge when faced with some not-so-pleasant circumstances.  Now the boys have three days off before taking on the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night at the Bridgestone Arena. Thursday's game will be the last home game for the team until November 13th.  Another win would be a good way to keep things rolling, heading into such a long away game stretch.