It’s hard – if not impossible – to get a read on a team after just two games, but the Nashville Predators have looked impressively different in their debut games under new coach Peter Laviolette. Cheap Vapormax Flyknit China . Laviolette’s promised to bring more offense to a Nashville organization that’s seen their goal-scoring dry up over the years, but early signs suggest that the team’s just going to be more aggressive in every phase of the game – not just in terms of getting pucks on net. This, of course, gets into the many different ways a team can improve on their Corsi%. One example I like to give is the stark contrast between that of Los Angeles and Chicago; two virtually equal teams at dominating control of play at five-on-five, but two teams that go about their business in entirely different manners. Los Angeles is a dump-and-chase heavy team – they prefer to sacrifice a bit of lethality when attacking in exchange for being able to set-up with more structure when defending the neutral zone. Chicago’s a polar opposite – nearly every possession through the neutral zone sees the Blackhawks carrying in with control, and it’s reflected in their ability to pile up the shot-attempts and goals year after year. The first two games Nashville’s played are interesting in the sense that they seem to have really dialed up the force and frequency in which they harass puck-carriers coming through the neutral zone. In years past, I’ve felt as though Nashville played a more passive game, which let super-talented teams dictate the run of play. Nashville’s first ‘real’ test came against a Dallas team that seems to be something of a lock to reach the post-season. The Stars attack in waves through the neutral zone, and their top-nine -- much like Chicago – seem to want to be in control of the puck as they attack the opposition. Sometimes, this is easier said than done. The Predators put on a masterful performance against Dallas. Move away from the 4-1 score line and consider the following: Dallas, a team that averaged 24 even-strength shots per game last year, had just 15 against Nashville. A large part of this was Dallas’ inability to generate basically anything away from the Seguin line, which produced seven of those fifteen shots. Nashville made a concerted effort to squeeze out passing lanes and attack puck-carriers as they traversed through the neutral zone. Their work against Dallas’ vaunted second line – Jason Spezza, Ales Hemsky, and Erik Cole – was particularly magnificent. Consider the below table, which shows the performance of the Jason Spezza line as they came through the neutral zone against Nashville, which shows just how rare it was for the Stars second line to enter the Nashville zone under control with the puck. Stars Stopped in Neutral Zone NZ Dump/Chase NZ Controlled Entry NZ Failure/Turnover Spezza Line On-Ice 17.9% (5/28) 17.9% (5/28) 64.2% (18/28) NZ = Neutral Zone Knowing what we know about the importance of entering the zone with control of the puck as it pertains to shot-attempt generation through the seminal work of Eric Tulsky, and knowing what we know about the stylistic play of guys like Ales Hemsky, Jason Spezza, and Erik Cole, their success will directly correlate with their ability to enter the offensive zone with control. In games they aren’t able to do this – like Saturday night’s game against Nashville – they’ll struggle to have an impact. Saturday’s poor neutral zone performance predictably manifested in their ability to generate shot-attempts. Here are the CorsiFor rates (per 60) for each of the players, with a three-year comparable to show how decisive the run of play really was. Stars Shot Down Per 60 CorsiFor vs. Nashville Per 60 CorsiFor 2011-14 Jason Spezza 21.65 63.64 Ales Hemsky 18.57 53.64 Erik Cole 17.08 54.92 Now, this sort of volatility is going to happen when isolating for single games (or even a series of games) with any player or group of players around the league, but it does speak to how strong Nashville was at bottling up Dallas’ second line – a second line that spent most of the night either defending the Nashville rush, or futilely trying to gain the opposition’s zone with possession of the puck. In terms of accreditation for slowing down the Dallas trio, the forward group seemed to do it by committee. Defensively, it was primarily the Seth Jones and Anton Volchenkov pairing, which saw almost 60% of their shifts against the Spezza group. A job well done. Going forward, the key for Dallas will not be to abandon its strategy, but to really dig into what makes the attacking styles of Chicago (and, San Jose for that matter) so effective. Part of that is the forward group doesn’t have to do so much of the leg-work – there are many able bodies on the back-end that can spring forwards as they move north, and it makes defending the controlled rush just exponentially harder. In Dallas, there are questions about the blueline, and how far they can take Lindy Ruff’s team. I think figuring out the three best puck-moving combinations could be vital going forward. Unfortunately, it’ll take time – there are a lot of young bodies back there. As an aside, I don’t think Dallas is going to have much trouble maneuvering through the regular season. The questions are about improvement, not about whether or not they’re a legitimate contender. On the other side – well, something to watch for Nashville going forward, certainly. I think reasonable assessments can be made about newly-coached teams after twenty games or so. We’ll revisit then, and see if Nashville is sustaining their success. Wholesale Vapormax 2020 . Anything less than gold for either nation is considered a disappointment. Yet for Switzerland, advancing to the semifinal might be a victory in itself. Nike VaporMax Plus Sunset Black+Total Orange+Yellow .com) - Novak Djokovic easily took care of Andy Murray to reach the final at the $2. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-vapormax-97-clearance.html . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers.SEATTLE -- Yohan Pino has the game ball to prove he belongs in the majors, even if he doesnt have a big league job anymore. The Minnesota Twins rookie right-hander earned his first major league victory -- beating the Seattle Mariners 4-2 Thursday night in his fifth big league appearance -- and was told after the game that hes being sent back to the minors to make room for LHP Kris Johnson to start Friday at Colorado. Throwing 100 pitches, Pino (1-2) allowed one run and seven hits in his five innings, walked two and struck out four. "I have to go down and do my job and try to get back," Pino said. His efforts didnt go unnoticed. "This works out for us, roster-wise ... but Pino was fabulous," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We gave him the game ball for his first major league win. We saw he had to battle for it. He made it through the fifth, which was huge." Kendrys Morales had the big hit, a two-run double in the fifth inning that gave the Twins a 4-1 lead. Morales, who played for the Mariners last season, came up with two outs and runners on first and second. He lined his double over centre fielder James Jones extended glove. Both runners scored without a throw. Glen Perkins worked the ninth to pick up his 22nd save in 25 opportunities. Tom Wilhelmsen (1-2) made his first major league start after 191 relief appearances for the Mariners, never pitching more than three innings in his career. He worked 2 2-3 innings, allowing two runs, one hit and three walks with three strikeouts. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon used six relievers to cover the nine innings after Taijuan Walker, who would have started, was sent down to Triple-A Tacoma to keep him in rotation during the All-Star break. The decision also gave staff ace Felix Hernandez an extra days rest to be available to start Friday against AL West-leading Oakland As. McClendon also made his decision knowing his bullpen had a 0.77 ERA with 63 strikeouts in the previous 18 games. Wilhelmsen had little trouble through the first two innings, throwing just 27 pitches. But he laboured in the third, issuing a one-out walk to Sam Fuld before Brian Dozier singled. With Kurt Suzuki at the plate, the runners pulled off a successful double steal. Caatcher Mike Zuninos throw to third sailed into left field allowing Fuld to score and Dozier to reach third. Vapormax Mens Clearance. Dozier scored on Suzukis sacrifice fly to centre. Kyle Seager, heading to the All-Star game Tuesday, had given the Mariners a 1-0 lead with his 14th home run in the second inning. Seager has a team-leading 60 RBIs. He is hitting .352 in 45 games at Safeco Field this season. Pino twice survived bases-loaded, two-out threats. In the third with a 3-2 count on Corey Hart, he threw a 79 mph slider that Hart chased to end it. "I just want him to put the ball in play. I dont want to walk him," Pino said. "I throw it over the plate. Whatever he wants to do." In the fifth, Hart again came up with the bases loaded and Pino induced him to ground out weakly to first, as the ball spun around the infield grass and was chased down by first baseman Chris Parmelee. That continued a poor offensive trend for the Mariners. They are just 2 for 33 with runners in scoring position over the past seven games. "We just havent got that big hit to put us over the top yet," McClendon said. "Listen, its hard to win ball games at this level on a nightly basis." Seattle reliever Danny Farquhar left with two outs in the fifth after Suzuki and Parmelee singled. Joe Beimel entered and was victimized by Morales. In the seventh, the Mariners loaded the bases again, with one out. Endy Chavez scored on Seagers sacrifice fly to left, but the rally ended when James Jones was ruled out trying to advance to third after a video review. "I was not only eating the (sunflower) seeds, I was eating the bag," Gardenhire said. NOTES: Colorado 1B Justin Morneau, who played 11 seasons for the Twins before being traded to Pittsburgh last August, will be part of the All-Star game festivities next week in Minneapolis. He was selected to compete in the Home Run Derby, which he won in 2008. ... Wilhelmsens start after 191 appearances is the third-most in club history behind Luis DeLeon (206) and Dwayne Henry (225). ... Cano is hitting .484 over his last 16 games against the Twins. ... The Mariners Michael Saunders held his side after checking his swing in the eighth. He was replaced by Dustin Ackley. ' ' '