Stars-Predators thoughts

I thought when the Stars didn’t score on that five-on-three late in the second period and didn’t extend their 2-1 lead they might be in a little trouble. As it turned out, they were. They killed a Nashville power play right after it, but then Nashville steamrolled them in the third period.

Fatigue may have played a role. The Stars were playing their third in four nights and they had a long game on Friday night, but I think it still boils down to special teams in this one. That five-on-three was one part of it. Nashville scoring on their first power play after the Stars had taken an early lead on the Steve Ott power play goal was big too. Special teams edge to the Predators on this night.

Give the Predators credit. They are playing well right now and after a slow start have clawed their way back to the .500 mark. No matter what kind of hand he is dealt as far as personnel, Predators coach Barry Trotz always gets the most out of his team.

Although he gave up four goals, I thought Alex Auld bounced back well from Friday’s game against Florida. He was pretty solid and was under siege in the third period. The pressure before the Patric Hornqvist goal was relentless and that was a slick play Hornqvist to roof that shot off the scramble in front of the net. He made some big stops in the game.

The Brian Sutherby, Tom Wandell, Fabian Brunnstrom line had another strong game and produced a goal.

The Brenden Morrow, Mike Ribeiro, Jamie Benn trio has had some issues this past week. They’ve been a mess a times. There was a lot of line juggling late in the game, which Marc Crawford tends to do. Sometimes lines go stale. It will be interesting to see how he moves things around when Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen come back into the lineup starting next week.

Overall, this was a so-so week for the Stars, who went 1-1-1 and the record reflected their play. There were some ups and downs. They are still a work in progress.

But if you look at the month of October as a whole, it’s been a good one for the Stars. They’ve picked up points in 11 of 14 games and have 17 of a possible 28 points for a solid .607 points percentage. We learned a year ago how important the start to the season can be, and the first month has been pretty good this time around. 

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