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A Win is a Win, Radulov and Randoms

March 13, 2012, 11:45 AM ET [76 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Resilience. Defined according to Merriam-Webster as “the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens.” I expected to see a picture of last night’s 5-4 Predator win over the Phoenix Coyotes as an illustrative definition of the word. Both teams showed resilience over and over and over again as Nashville ran their record to 29-3-3 when scoring first. The Predators now have crept to within two points of Detroit in the tight Central Division race.

You have to give a lot of credit to the ‘Yotes. After giving up back-breaker goals in both the first and second periods and going down by two goals early in the third period, they just kept on working. Chipping pucks and chipping away at the Nashville lead. This is a very solid hockey team that probably deserved a little better than they got on this night.

The Predators, on the other hand can also take some positives from the win, beside the two, very critical, points. Last night was Nashville’s first win in a shootout after losing their last three opportunities. Andrei Kostitsyn was the difference maker again, going five-hole on Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith for the only score in the shootout. Another positive had to be the play of Craig Smith. After being a healthy scratch for the last two games, he came out with a lot of jump. His third period goal showed the kind of speed and skill he exhibited earlier in the season. Getting him a little rest may have been tough on the young player, but it paid off last night.

The depth of the Nashville lineup was on full display last night, especially on the blueline. With Kevin Klein still recovering and Roman Josi not with the team due to his own “upper-body injury.” The Preds still iced an effective defense corps. The competition at forward also seems to be driving the right kind of behaviors as each player that returns after getting scratched seems to play very well… giving head coach Barry Trotz the kind of headache he doesn’t mind at all.

Next game is Thursday night in San Jose… in between time the speculation about Alexander Radulov will continue to grow…

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Speaking of the Prodigal Pred, TSN is reporting that “Paper work is being finalized that would see Alexander Radulov return to the NHL this season and the National Hockey League Players' Association said they would agree to bypass waivers for the Russian forward if he decides to return to the Nashville Predators.”

Some interesting discussions have been going on in the blogosphere. Is bringing him back the right thing to do? Will it be bad for the room? Will it screw up the team chemistry?

Yes… No… and No!

Alexander Radulov is the best player in hockey outside of the NHL. After watching quite a few Salavat Yulayev games over the past two seasons, it is obvious that Radulov has grown into a complete hockey player, his play on the ice shows a lot more professional maturity. He has a strong connection to the existing leadership group on the Preds and those that he did not get along with are no longer with the team.

The only small quibble I would have would involve allowing Radulov to satisfy his contract with 10 games and the playoffs, that would bug me a little, but there is a simple way to fix that… have a contract extension ready for him. Get him locked down for the next four-five years at a decent price. That seems to be a win/win for both sides. Radulov satisfies the last year of his contract and gets a decent payday with a salary scale deserving of his talent and potential.

Beyond that… he is the last piece this Predators team is missing… the sniper. C’mon home Alex… we’ll be waiting with a glass of sweet tea and a biscuit and we’ll leave the light on for you!

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“A Long March” – Tracking the stretch run…
Points Available – 30
Points Gained So Far – 8 out of 10

3/03 – @ Florida – W 3-1
3/06 – Los Angeles – L 5-4
3/08 – Colorado – W 4-2
3/10 – Detroit – W 3-2
3/12 – @ Phoenix – W (SO) 5-4
3/15 – @ San Jose –
3/17 – @ Los Angeles –
3/18 - @ Anaheim –
3/20 – Edmonton –
3/22 - @ Pittsburgh –
3/24 – Winnipeg –
3/25 - @ Chicago –
3/27 - @ St. Louis –
3/30 - @ Detroit –
3/31 – Chicago –

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Random Notes…

- With 13 games remaining in the regular season, the Predators remain 5th in the Western Conference standings with 89 points, trailing conference leading St. Louis by eight points and Detroit by two points. The Predators lead Chicago by seven points. Nashville has one game in hand over St. Louis and Chicago.

- In the latest Super 16 on NHL.com, the Predators are ranked third, up one spot from last week.

- Kevin Klein has resumed practice with the Predators, good news for a banged up blueline. He’s hoping to get in the lineup by the weekend.

- Big kudos to Jack Hillen. He seems to understand his role well and perform when called upon. He played a solid game last night, filling in for Roman Josi.

Tonight’s Impact Games

St. Louis @ Chicago – This will be a fun one to watch. St. Louis is not as good on the road, but let’s face it… they are on a roll, 9-1-0 in their last ten, five straight wins. They keep this run going and they will take the President’s Trophy hands down. Chicago is desperately trying to avoid dropping down into the 7 or 8 spot and needs these two points to maintain a solid lead over Phoenix, Colorado and San Jose.

Detroit @ Los Angeles – The Red Wings road record is not good, 16-18-1, and after the Predators win last night, they hold a razor thin 2 point lead over Nashville for the 4 spot and home ice in the first round. Los Angeles needs two points tonight to avoid falling further behind in the race for the last two Western Conference playoff spots

SportsClubStats Update
Predators Playoff Chances – 99.98%
Highest % Potential Playoff Opponent – St. Louis 13.9%, Detroit 81.1%

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On the next SlapShot Radio

Our most recent podcast is posted, we were live at Blackstone Brewery with Steve Lepore of Puck the Media, Jeff Marek from Sportsnet and Peter McNab from the Colorado broadcast team. We won’t be on the air this week as 102.5 the Game will be covering the Wednesday March Madness action from Dayton, OH.
Click here to listen or download any of our previous episodes.

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