Not only did Hitchcock get a monkey off his back, but his team did as well. Before last night’s 3-2 shootout victory, the Blues had lost all four head-to-head meetings with the Predators this season.
“To have to come and play in this building off of a back-to-back is not easy,” Hitchcock said after the game. “I’m really proud of the team. This was not pretty at times, but this was a gutsy effort.”
Considering they were coming off a tough loss on Wednesday, the Blues couldn’t have scripted a better start. They out-shot the Preds 13-6 in the first period and led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
“I thought it was like two different games,” Hitchcock said. “I thought we were better than them in the first and the overtime and the second half of the third. They were better than us in the second and first half of the third they were better. They had more energy. We seemed to hit the wall in the second from last night’s game. But we came back and gutted it out in the third.”
If the season ended today, the Preds would face the Blues in the first round. That doesn’t seem like something Hitchcock would want.
“I don’t think either one of us wants to play each other,” Hitchcock said. “I’m not sure if we got in a series there’d be many players left to play in the next one, so we’ll see where it goes.”
The last head-to-head meeting between the two teams will take place in St. Louis on March 27th.
***
The Morning After:
Yesterday’s results:
Blues 3, Predators 2 (SO)
Smashville 24/7 3 stars of the night:
1. Colin Wilson, NSH (1 goal)
2. David Perron, STL (1 assist)
3. Roman Josi, NSH (1 goal)
Recaps around the blogosphere:
| Preds On The Glass | Inside Smashville | Section 303 |
| Puck Scene | Hockey Night in Nashville | On The Forecheck |
Play of the game:
http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf
***
Decibel Level Chart:
How loud was it in Smashville last night? Find out here…
| Decibels (dB) | Play |
| 106 (dB) | Preds come onto the ice |
| 108 | Roman Josi 2nd period goal |
| 110 | Colin Wilson 2nd period goal |
| 104 | Fan of the game |
| 99 | Jaroslav Halak save on Wilson in 3rd period |
