The signing of Pekka Rinne has put the Preds on the national stage over the last couple of days and rightfully so. Just hours after signing the extension, Peks went out and capped a 3-0 shutout over the Coyotes, in front of an announced attendance of 72. Oh, and also, it was his birthday. That's a nice day I'd assume.
Now the Preds take their talents to South Bay and say what's up to an old nemesis: the San Jose Sharks.
Ron Wilson is long gone from the Sharks bench, as are (probably) most of the ill feelings Pred fans harbor for the team because, let's face it, they owned us two straight years in the playoffs. Aside from that though, the Sharks are just a horrible matchup for us and always have been.
They're a strong, well-disciplined team and the usually-young-and-gritty Preds tend to get over matched by San Jose, especially in their building.
After a relatively slow start, the Sharks have won six of seven and are hitting their proverbial stride. The only true weakness they have is on the penalty kill, which they rank 27th in the league.
And hey, the Preds are 17th on the power play so far this season, which is a far cry from their usual rank somewhere well below that.
As far as the Preds go as a whole, since their loss to the Sharks last week in Nashville they have been playing better hockey by winning three of four, and their loss coming in a 5-4 loss at Chicago.
Notes: Backup goalie Anders Lindback has yet to make a start this season and is more than likely going to end that trend during this California trip. Look for it on Wednesday at Anaheim, as it's the back end of a back-to-back with LA and Anaheim.......Sergei Kostitsyn and Kevin Klein are probable. Nick Spaling is still on IR but will skate today.
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