Opening Weekend continues tonight as the Predators welcome the New Jersey Devils to town. New Jersey comes in with an identical record after their 2-1 shootout win over the Kings on Thursday night and are led by Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk.
Lots of work put in on the breakout according to reports from yesterday’s practice, focusing on puck movement and positioning. The opportunity for Nashville tonight is coming out strong from jump street. The early season surprise for the Predators is the suddenly powerful power play, converting at a snappy 30% rate.
Injuries for tonight’s game… the Preds will be without Mike Fisher, Martin Erat and Francis Bouillon. Patric Hornqvist will be a game day decision… for the Devils, Travis Zajac will not be in their lineup and legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur is listed as questionable with an upper body injury suffered in their win over the Kings. That is not necessarily good news for the Preds as Brodeurs backup, Johan Hedberg is leading the league in GAA and 1.14 and 4th in save percentage at .952.
The Predators will rely on the hot start of David Legwand to continue, as of this writing, Legwand is leading the NHL in points with 2 goals and 5 assists. That is not a typo folks… Legwand is playing with a confidence appropriate for his years in the league and appears to be on the brink of a long awaited breakout season.
Game time is 7pm, coverage is on 102.5 the Game, TV is Center Ice only.
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Random Notes
- All fans get a Magnet Schedule tonight… courtesy of O’Charley’s… there are some tickets remaining for tonight’s game.
- I expect a much different Predators team to hit the ice tonight. A hallmark of this franchise has been resiliency… they will not come out flat this evening.
- 14 games on the schedule tonight, highlighted by the game in Phoenix as the old Jets welcome the new Jets.
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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, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
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On the next SlapShot Radio
Great interview with Stu Grimson on Wednesday’s SlapShot Radio, also had a nice conversation with Phoenix radio voice Bob Heethuis… Wait what? You say you were spinning around the wrong places on the dial… you missed it???
Not to worry… the podcast is posted on the SlapShot Radio website.
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