Things went from ecstatic to miserable in about five days for the Nashville Predators. Just a week after beating the Detroit Red Wings in impressive fashion, the Predators are looking up from a 2-0 hole against the Phoenix Coyotes, and will have to climb out without the services of their two top forwards.
Andrei Kostitsyn and Alexander Radulov were apparently caught out at 4 a.m. after Game 2 of the Western Conference semis. Nashville general manager David Poile wasn’t happy and suspended the pair for violation of team rules.
”I hope there is some remorse for what they did,” he said. ”Time will tell with their behavior and if they get the opportunity to get back into the lineup.”
Radulov is the team’s leading scorer in the playoffs, a critical loss for a team that hasn’t faced an 0-2 defecit in the playoffs since 2008.
”Every team that has success in the playoffs has to go through some adversity,” head coach Barry Trotz said. ”They haven’t had to go through a whole lot of adversity yet, so this is a good test. When you go through adversity, it really reveals your character so we’re going to find out what kind of character we do have.”
Matt Halischuk, Jordin Tootoo and Craig Smith are candidates to replace them on the ice, but only Smith has any minutes in the playoffs.
All good things for the Coyotes, who look to take a commanding lead in Game 3 Wednesday night as the series shifts to Nashville. Not they need it. They have won all three of their visits to Nashville, including two this season.
”We realize that Nashville is going to come out and play probably their best game of the series in Game 3, probably out of desperation, and we have to make sure our game is where it needs to be to give us the best chance to win,” head coach Dave Tippett said.
They haven’t had a problem so far. Phoenix has scored nine goals over its first two games in the series against Pekka Rinne, including five on Monday.
”He’s a very good goaltender,” Coyotes center Antoine Vermette told the Associated Press. ”It’s something unusual. You don’t see that many goals usually against this guy. So yeah, our approach has been good. That being said, we’re going to have to do it again. We’re going to have to create scoring chances.”
Still, at home, the Predators are a 1 1/2 goal favorite, according to Bovada, with a -110 moneyline.