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Game night in South Florida as the Predators try to continue their point-gathering ways with a non-televised (Thank You Versus) game tonight against Tomas Vokoun and the Florida Panthers. Since the Olympic break, the Predators have gained points in 11 of their 15 games for 21 points, powering their ascent in the Western Conference standings. The Panthers are languishing in the bottom of the Eastern Standings at 13th, not even putting on the late season futile push that has been a hallmark of this franchise for the past few seasons.
Still… this is a trap game for the Predators, a game that could be considered a “breather” after a tough couple of games and before another tough set of games that begins tomorrow night. That would be a dangerous attitude to take as almost all of the other teams that are jockeying for position in the West have games in hand on Nashville. This is the last four game week of the season, and the games in hand will continue to pile up. Now is the time, because this team will get to watch the competition a lot next week.
Dan Ellis gets his first start since the debacle in San Jose, Jason Arnott, Joel Ward and Denis Grebeshkov are all out for tonight’s game. Florida is listing David Booth as out and winger Greg Campbell as doubtful.
Radio only for coverage tonight… puck drop at 6:38pm on 104.5 the Zone.
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Where We Stand… A daily look at where the Predator’s stand in the playoff race…
Coming into today’s play, the Predators stand 2nd in the Central division and 5th in the Western Conference with six games to play. Nashville is…
- 8 points behind 4th place Phoenix.
- 7 points behind 2nd place (Central leading) Chicago, Chicago has two games in hand.
In the chase group… Nashville leads…
- 6th place Detroit by 1 point, the Red Wings have a game in hand.
- 7th place Los Angeles by 2 points, the Kings have two games in hand.
- 8th place Colorado by 3 points, the Av’s have a game in hand.
- 9th place Calgary by 7 points.
The Preds have…
1 game left against – Kings (home-Tuesday), @ Florida (Tonight), Coyotes (road), Detroit (road - Saturday)
2 games left against – Blues (Thursday and Apr. 10, both @ home)
Tonight’s Impact Games
According to SportsClubStats.com, results of last night’s play has the Predators with an 99.4% chance of making the playoffs.
Minnesota / Los Angeles – A Wild win would be a good thing for Nashville.
Chase Group Odds of Making the Playoffs (according to SportsClubStats.com)
Detroit – 99.3% -
Los Angeles – 99.5%
Colorado – 96.4%
Calgary – 4.7%
Wed 3/30 – We’re live at Dave and Busters breaking down the playoff races and talking to NHL newsmakers. Dirk Hoag from “On the Forecheck’ will be filling in for Pete Weber this week. Our guest list includes Craig Custance, hockey writer for The Sporting News, Darren Pang, TV Anaylst for the St. Louis Blues, and we are efforting Aaron Sims, voice of the Milwaukee Admirals. That’s all at 6pm Wednesday, live from Dave and Buster’s at Opry Mills on SportsRadio 560 WNSR.
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates… I’ll also be updating during Pred home games in season with information and explanations from the PA box.
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