Article content continued

In some ways, it was like Phil Kessel getting traded from Toronto to Pittsburgh.

During his time with the Leafs, Kessel had been an offensive player without a supporting cast. He twice scored 37 goals, never missed a game and led the team in scoring in the six seasons he played in Toronto. But because the team couldn’t find success, he was blamed for the mounting losses and was criticized as someone who simply didn’t care about winning.

In his first season with the Penguins, a team that had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, a team where Kessel didn’t have to be the No. 1 offensive weapon, he won a Stanley Cup.

The Predators don’t have Crosby. But they are a still significantly better team than the Canadiens. They would be better even if they still had Weber in the lineup. Heck, they’d probably be better without Weber or Subban.

That they now have a defenceman who is fearless with the puck, has a bomb for a shot and is a game-breaker only makes that much more dangerous. Just ask the Chicago Blackhawks, who were swept by the Predators in the first round of the playoffs.

On Wednesday, Subban used that big shot from the point to score his first goal of the playoffs. He finished the 4-3 win with three points and capped off the magical evening by asking analyst Pierre McGuire “what’s the secret” to him looking better every day.

This was Subban at his best: electrifying on the ice, charismatic off it.

“I try to live up to what I’m paid to do,” Subban told reporters after the game. “I just try to step up and lead by example on the ice and do my job and today I got lucky a couple times, the puck went in for me.”