During Nashville’s first round series with Detroit, defenseman Kevin Klein was a bit of a breakout player. He scored a coupe goals, laid some big hits, and showed Predators fans that he’s got some game going on and shouldn’t just be the butt of jokes anymore.
Then the second round began and the Coyotes started scoring goals by the bunches and Klein turned out to have a really good view of them on the ice. Joshua Cooper of The Tennessean makes note of how Klein’s Game 2 effort was bad enough to be singled out.
Against the Coyotes, he has had his issues. He was on ice for three second period goals against. You saw him preventing goals in the first series. In this one, it’s not the same. He did have a nice assist on Andrei Kostitsyn’s goal. But overall, Klein hasn’t made the same types of decisions as Round 1.
Bad pinches, bad reads, and a lot of forwards zipping past him on the way to Pekka Rinne’s net. Yes, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter get all the attention on the Nashville blue line, but when guys like Klein are getting noticed for play like this, it’s nothing but bad news for the Predators.