OK, I didn’t see that one coming. The Nashville Predators went into the United Center, one of the toughest places for a road team to get a win this year, and took a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. You could call this a perfect road win for the Predators and in some respects, it was. They made Chicago pay dearly for two first period mistakes, avoided the all-to-familiar second period letdown, then dug deep to hang on in a third where the ‘Hawks made a huge push.
The Predators got goals from Mike Fisher and Craig Smith in the first period, both on bad giveaways. Dave Bolland ruined the shutout for Pekka Rinne with his power play goal midway through the third period and Colin Wilson iced the win with an empty netter. Certainly nice to see Mike Fisher and Craig Smith break out, last night's was Smith's first non-power play goal since early November.
This really was a gut-check win for this gritty gang of Preds. On the back end of a back-to-back, against a wounded Chicago team, they found a way to “empty the bucket” and come out of the Windy City with two points… and finally get out of 4th place in the division.
The Predators have won their last four, nine out of their last ten and 18 out of their last 23. Look up the definition of “on a roll” on dictionary.com and you may see a picture of this team. Nashville could certainly lay claim to being the hottest team in the NHL going into the break, if it wasn’t for those pesky Detroit Red Wings and their completely insane home win streak…
It’s a well earned break for Nashville. They will reassemble on Monday to get back to work, but until then, they will enjoy a much-needed mid season opportunity to rest and recover for the push ahead.
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Pete and I have a great SlapShot Radio planned for you tonight. We’ll be chatting with Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek, Jeff is one of our favorite guests, you can hear more of him on his daily podcast with Puck Daddy. Katie Baker, from ESPN.com’s Grantland blog joins us and we will feature Nashville’s three All-Stars, Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Craig Smith… that’s all at 6pm tonight on 102.5 the Game.
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Random Notes
- The Predators go into the All-Star break 3rd in the Central Division, 5th in the Western Conference with 64 points, they are on a pace to finish with 105 points. They trail the 4th place St. Louis Blues by one point and the conference leading Red Wings by three. Both St. Louis and Detroit have a game in hand on Nashville. The Predators are tied in points with Chicago (but win the tie-break.) They lead 7th place LA by six points and 8th place Minnesota by nine.
- Some definite separation is building between the top six teams in the West and the chase group. There is a six point bulge between 6th and 7th, and twelve points between 6th and 12th.
- Nashville’s road record is the second best in the Western Conference.
- The Predators hold an 11-2-2 record in the Central Division, granted they have feasted on Columbus’ woes, going 5-0-1 against them, but... 6-2-1 against the rest is not bad at all.
- A big thank you to all the participants in the great discussion on yesterday’s thread. A touchy subject was discussed in a respectful and intelligent fashion. There is hope gang… there is hope.
- Congratulations to Scott Hartnell on being selected to the All-Star Game… well deserved.
- One game tonight… Detroit at Montreal. If Detroit wins, they will push their road record above .500 for the first time since October 22nd.
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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
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SlapShot Radio will be getting you ready for the All-Star game with exclusive interviews with all three Nashville All-Stars, we will also chat with Katie Baker author of Coldhearted, the great hockey blog on ESPN.com’s Grantland and get a visit from one of our favorite guests… Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek. All this on SlapShot Radio built by
RiverBirch Homes, tonight at 6pm on 102.5 the Game.
Click
here to listen or download any of our previous shows.
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