Predators 4, Canes 2 (preseason)

Very little offense by the Canes in 5-on-5 situations for the first 50 minutes. Nashville looked great on defense, although their second goalie was shaky. The Canes did increase their energy level in the last 10 minutes. Boychuk's giveaway set up the second Nashville goal. Ray Whitney's inteference penalty late in the game looked ugly, but I'm sure he thought it was necessary to prevent another scoring chance by Nashville.

Chip,

Excellent summary of the game. I had to miss the first period but saw the second and third periods. The crowd was pretty engaged even though the numbers were smaller than I would have thought. My first impression of the team in general was that it was definitely bigger and more physical than last year's team. Boychuk and Sutter had some flashes of impressive play; but like almost all young players had some moments that they will relive on video as "coaching and learning opportunities." Harrison was quite impressive and plays with a physical edge. Aaron Ward was a pleasure to watch. I didn't appreciate the importance of his role with the Hurricanes until he left. I thought Blanchard also brought a physical element to the ice and he looks even bigger than 6'3" and 200 lbs. The power play looked like the Hurricanes power play at the start of last season. Ruutu was banging in the dirty spaces; but the team still could use some more net presence, so the Predators' defense was able to collapse and prevent any decent shooting lanes. The last penalty of the game was Whitney skating hard back down the ice into the defensive zone and accidentally hammering a Predator who didn't realize Whitney was coming. Both Whitney and the Predator seemed to act like, "well, that is the kind of thing that happens in the pre-season." I thought it also showed how deeply competitive Whitney is that he was sprinting back that hard in a pre-season game. My other reaction to the Hurricanes team in general is that they all love to play hockey; and there was never a time even one player was going through the motions. They were rusty; but they were giving it 100%. It will be a fun team to watch this year.