Neal a Predator around net again
Overtime winner latest evidence the Nashville sniper has regained his scoring touch
ANAHEIM, Calif. — A day after scoring the overtime winner in Game 1 — his third goal in the last four games — a smiling James Neal said he’s feeling confident about his game.
Certainly, he’s feeling better than he did in the first round, when the Nashville Predators forward went four games without a goal. Back then, his stick felt chest-freezer cold and every puck fired on net seemed to be the size of a beach ball. Then, just like that, he found his touch.
Neal, tied for the team lead with four goals, can’t explain it. All he knows is he doesn’t want it to end.
“I think you just feel good about your game,” he said. “You’re getting the looks, you’re getting the shots. You have that patience with the puck and you feel like you’re dangerous all over the ice. It’s like being in the zone. When you’re like that, you feel like you can put the puck in from anywhere.”
Neal might have added food tastes better and the sun seems brighter. That his sleeps have been more restful. It’s like that when things are going your way. Everything you touch turns to gold.
It doesn’t last forever. Neal knows that better than most.
Snipers, even ones that reach the 40-goal mark as Neal did four years ago, are a streaky bunch. They stay cold as fast as they heat up.
Neal might be one of the hottest scorers now, but it wasn’t long ago when he was wondering when — or if — the next goal would come. During a disastrous 19-game stretch that lasted from February to April, Neal scored just one goal. He snapped it by going on a three-game scoring streak, but still finished the season third on the team with 23 goals.
After three goals against St. Louis and beginning the Western Conference final with an overtime goal. Neal is certainly heating up.
“That’s the right time of the year. We need that,” Predators head coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’ve gotten contributions from everybody, but I know James is a guy that can be a difference-maker like he has been. To be chipping in points is a good thing.”
It’s not just that the puck is going in for Neal, it’s that he’s getting the puck on net. He had six shots in Game 1 against the Ducks. His last one, a one-timer that ricocheted off Perry’s back, was impressive because of where it came from.
P.K. Subban had the puck and wanted to shoot, but once he “wound up, everyone was diving and legs were trying to get in the way of the shot.” So he passed it to Neal, parked off to the side in a shooting position.
“Everyone talks about the pass, but you can’t make the pass unless the guy makes the effort to get open and create that lane,” Subban said. “(Neal) did a good job of getting open and I just tried to put it in a place where he could shoot it ... When he’s open, you just try to get him the puck as much as you can.”
That is, as long as it keeps going in. That’s the thing about a hot streak. It can vanish as quickly as it appears. For now, Neal cannot seem to do any wrong.
“For sure, it gives you confidence,” he said. “For any goal-scorer, scoring in the playoffs is emotional. It’s an amazing feeling. The way your teammates come after you, how exciting the crowd is, just everything about it is a lot of fun. It definitely gives you a big boost.”