I know, I know, I have forwards to write about

but I've been travelling, and my soujourn began and ended in Nashville, TN. --- a beautiful city that is akin to time travel in many ways.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the non-televised Kings v. Preds game at the Sommet Center. The crowd was loud and actually very into the game, and well they should have been --- at least for the first 15 minutes, and the last 15 minutes. That middle section was (for a Preds fan) akin to listening to an Enya CD...

So, first I want to say that I really like the arena. Very bright, great sightlines, lots of energy, a far better jumbotron than Staples, and free programs that actually have useful information!

It was apparent from the opening faceoff that the Kings were flat. Nashville just swarmed and by the time they scored their first goal, I was pretty sure they should have had three... and soon they did. So, while Labarbara exited for Ersberg, and Terry Murray thought that just maybe that third goal could have been stopped, there was no way I was faulting the guy I always fault in goal for the Kings. He was swarmed, beleagured and ransacked, and left to the mercy of non-household names like Hornqvist, Ward and Jones...

As the shot clock read 15-2, I was pretty sure it was going to be a tough comeback for a team that had played a perfect road game the night before. Three goals in a little more than three minutes, and two power play goals against a Kings team that had reigned supreme in their previous 28 attempts to start the season.

By mid-second period, as the shot tide had turned, the Kings found the Preds on their heels and Patrick O'Sullivan took matters into his own hands and fed Jarret Stoll for a shot Ellis initially stopped but left a nice juicy rebound for him to bang home and get the Kings motivated and back in the game. Sully started the play that led to Stoll's second goal, and as we headed to the concourse after two, it was clear we had a game. I know, the scoreboard dictates the obvious, but this new-look Kings team has the kind of tenacity that really does make you believe comebacks can happen.

Meanwhile, Ersberg might as well have been a cardboard standup for much of his time in the nets to that point. The Preds mustered just two shots in the second period, and I believe Ersberg saw only two in the final seven minutes of the first, so once again, we had no idea if he was going to be a saviour (save-iour) or not...

A double minor to Legwand towards the end of the second period gave the Kings ample opportunity to tie the score, but Ellis stood strong. A few good chances, but no goals through the first half of the third, and then with a little more than a blink of an eye, it was offensive popguns Jerred Smithson, the baby-faced assassin that played a couple dozen completely invistible games for the Kings back when he was a fetus, and Jordin Tootoo, who thanks to a train whistle that is sold on the concourse, creates a frenzy every time he touches the puck (toot toooooot) --- the Kings and Ersberg found themselves down by 3 with just about seven minutes to go.

I should point out that while I was cheering for the Kings and shouting the occasional encouragement to them, it was not without reservation that I refrained from yelling "KOPI --- you're face is on milk cartons all over LA ---" because aside from the occasional neutral zone to blue line carry of the puck through two defenders, he really did a whole lotta nothing --- despite two assists on the scoresheet. Granted, neither Moulson nor Calder has done much to deflect the attention away from Kopitar, but it's not been easy to watch our new 7 million dollar manchild do a whole lotta Handzus.

Speaking of Handzus... so much has been said about his resurgence this season, but I'm placing even money on waking up one day and saying "Holy crap, that slug has 4 points in his last 25 games" at SOME point in the season...

Finally, this is the second arena I have gone to where I have come to the conclusion that BLACK netting is SO MUCH BETTER when you are sitting in the arena between the blue lines. I can't say for sure that it's SO MUCH WORSE if you are looking through it, but in both this instance, and an instance last season in Philly, I was amazed to realize at some point that there WAS netting... With the white, it's immediately obtrusive. (and I sit in 210 at Staples, so I look through white netting for the most part.)