The Nashville Predators are on a five game win streak, including sweeping a four game home stand. Sounds pretty good huh? Not if you ask the team. Post game reaction, well documented by Josh Cooper in the
Tennessean was muted at best, with the team leadership not happy at all.
There is good reason for that. The best player on the ice Thursday night against Detroit and Saturday night against St. Louis was Pekka Rinne. The only way the Blues solved Rinne was due to terrible play that left the goaltender all alone. Give Rinne a better defensive performance (remember, everyone plays defense) and Pred Nation would been enjoying free donuts on Sunday. The obvious lack of satisfaction portends well for this team, there have been times where these types of victories would’ve been celebrated, now they are looked at with scorn. It speaks to the heightened expectations of the team, and that is a very good thing.
The Predators have a difficult week ahead of them before they enjoy Christmas with their families. After a morning practice today, the team flies to Washington for a Tuesday night tilt against the Capitals at Verizon Center. Washington changed coaches a few weeks back but hasn’t seen the kind of impact they were looking for. They are 4-6-1 in their last ten and coming off a loss. There is still trouble in the Nation’s Capital but this is a team that can be lethal on offense. The best news for Pred Nation is that Washington gives better than they get, giving up more goals than they score.
The team returns home for Thursday night to take on Columbus and try to get back their home ice dominance over the Blue Jackets. Columbus continues to languish at the bottom of the conference standings and finding new ways to drop games they are in control of. They are 3-6-1 in their last ten and have lost three straight as of this writing. This is a team that has way too much talent to be in the position they are in, but Columbus/Nashville games are always tight checking affairs.
The final game before the Christmas break is Friday night in Dallas against the surprising Stars. Dallas was the October surprise in the NHL, at one point leading the Western Conference, they have certainly fallen quite a bit from their lofty start, mainly due to offensive struggles, this game is a mirror match in a lot of respects.
The holiday roster freeze takes effect today and a great week of hockey is on the horizon.
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In case you missed it yesterday here’s our regular Sunday Shots. Click
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Random Notes
- As far as the trade rumors flying about Shea Weber and Ryan Suter… unless someone offers something crazy… and I’m talking “Herschel Walker from Dallas to Minnesota” crazy… it just ain’t gonna happen.
- Good quote from former Pred Cody Franson in Elliotte Friedman’s HNIC column today comparing Shea Weber’s shot to Ryan Suter’s… "Suter shoots for [teammates to] tip, Shea believes he's going to put it through everyone."
- Jonathan Blum tweeted that he was being recalled to the Preds last night, no official word yet but it would need to happen before the Holiday Roster Freeze takes effect at midnight tonight.
Update - It is official, Blum was called up.
- Word is also traveling around that Blake Geoffrion may be recalled as well, but again, nothing official. -
Update - It is now official Geoffrion was called up.
- The “Fire Scott Arniel” Greek Chorus is getting louder and louder as this season slowly spins down the drain for Columbus. Eric Smith has a very nice breakdown of the situation on his blog.
- Not the biggest Mike Milbury fan in the world, but this “assault” charge looks to be more and more silly as more information comes out. I’ve been one and I know how crazy hockey parents can be…
- Wondering if Milan Lucic is finally going to get a suspension after his hit Saturday.
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