Last week, I wrote about the Preds’ record when losing the first game of a series. At a certain point, the expectation of failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and it’s hard not to look at last night’s game and see that setting in.
I had my analysis mentally outlined already when Rick Tocchet pulled Arturs Silovs for the extra attacker. For the first 57 minutes of the game, the Preds were picking up where they’d left off in the third period of Friday’s game–it had been too little too late then, but today… They were bringing the offense, gaining and keeping the zone, making smart plays through traffic around the net, keeping Silovs moving, showing creativity and tenacity.