The effort was there, the results were not as the Nashville Predators had their five game win streak snapped by the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 at Wells Fargo Center last night. A new Predator killer has been identified, his name? Wayne Simmonds, who seems to see the Pred logo and goes crazy… four points (3g, 1a) in two games, all at key points in those games, either gaining momentum for his team, like he did at Bridgestone Arena a few weeks back… or killing hard won momentum for Nashville as he did last night.

The Predators had just scored to draw within one in the third period and were looking to repeat their patented third period comeback… Anders Lindback makes a huge save to continue the momentum building and Pred Nation was thinking, “OK, here we go!” Not so fast… Jerred Smithson put the Preds behind the 8 ball, taking an ill-advised interference penalty and Simmonds made the Preds pay just :35 seconds later, effectively ending Nashville’s hope for another comeback.

In giving Pekka Rinne a break, Anders Lindback played well for the most part, however, he is not getting much offensive support. In Lindback’s last four starts (including last night) the team has only managed four goals. Granted, these games were against some of the toughest Eastern Conference opponents, but expecting your backup to get a shutout in order to get a win is a bit much.

The Predators are back in town… practice today and a huge divisional battle with St. Louis tomorrow night at the Bridge… limited tickets are available for this key four point game.

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The fourth annual SlapShot Radio fundraiser for C.A.P.E. is scheduled for Saturday. February 11th at Blue Restaurant in Murfreesboro. We've got a silent auction, great food and drink and we'll be watching the Predators take on the Boston Bruins from Beantown.

Mark the date on your calendars and join us at Blue! I will be publishing the silent auction items next week.

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Random Notes

- The Predators stand 4th in the Western conference, 2nd in the Central Division. They trail division/conference leading Detroit by five points after Detroit’s win combined with Nashville’s loss. Nashville leads 5th place St. Louis and 6th place Chicago by 1 point. The Blues have three games in hand over the other three teams in the fight for the division.

- According to SportsClubStats.com the Predators playoff chances are at 96.9%, seeding chances according to the site? 5th at 37%, 6th at 27%, 7th at 13%, 4th at 12%.

- The Chicago Blackhawks laid a huge egg in Edmonton last night, losing 8-4. Sam Gagne had an 8 point night with 4 goals and four assists… tying the franchise record for points in a game with little known players by the names of Paul Coffey and Wayne Gretzky.

- Taking a look at the score, my first thought was “What a blowout!” But you could look at this game as a come from behind win for Edmonton as they spotted Chicago a two goal lead before scoring three goals in ten minutes in the second period. Chicago then tied the game three minutes later and te second period ended in a 3-3 tie. Edmonton then exploded for five third period goals.

- The scary part for Chicago? That 8-4 loss represented an improvement over the 9-2 pasting they took at Rexall Place last November.

- The Winnipeg Jets won their second straight on the road in extra time, beating Tampa Bay 2-1 last night. Impressive set of back-to-back wins for the Jets who will need to continue to grab points on the road to keep their playoff hopes alive. They stand four points back of 8th place Toronto this morning, but the Leafs have a game in hand.

- In the WTF department… the bottom of the conference dwelling Carolina Hurricanes completed a season sweep of the Northeast Division leading Boston Bruins last night…

- NHL Commish Gary Bettman addressed the LA/Columbus clock controversy. He talked about an investigation being launched to figure out why it happened and what steps needed to be taken

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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!

Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.

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On the next SlapShot Radio

We’re getting you ready for your full weekend of hockey on the SlapShot Radio podcast, the Puck Daddy himself, Greg Wyshynski joined us, we previewed the Flyers game with Camden Courier-Post sportswriter Kevin Callahan, and talked St. Louis Blues with a visit from Blues TV color analyst Darren Pang. All this and more on SlapShot Radio, the podcast is posted … Click here to listen or download any of our previous shows.

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