It was not the most exciting game of the season, but Nashville got the job done with a 2-1 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild in front of a very happy sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena. The story of the night? The superb play of Anders Lindback, stopping 25 of 26 and going 3-3 in the shootout, the first of his NHL career.

The other thing to take from last night’s win was the excellent play of Nashville’s third line, Nick Spaling, Gabriel Bourque and Patric Hornqvist. Multiple scoring opportunities, including one that led to a lengthy video review, giving Game Ops the chance to Rick-Roll the arena… and the only goal in regulation for Nashville came from that line a bit later and Minnesota, a solid defensive team, had no answers for it.

And speaking of having no answers, Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom is still looking for Alexander Radulov’s sick game winner in the shootout. Showing incredible patience, A-Rad got Backstrom to bite on his second move then calmly lifted the puck into the net for the goal. Pred Nation knew Rads was good, they are learning how much better he has gotten over the past four years.

Now attention turns to the health of Predator’s all-world netminder Pekka Rinne. He was a scratch last night due to illness and will be re-evaluated at today’s practice. Chet Pickard was called up after Cincinnati finished their season, like he was last year, but he dressed as backup last night, a bit of a surprise to Pred fans. A lot of folks wil be watching today’s practice closely.

A crucial two points for the Preds, two points that lifts them back into the 4th spot in the Western Conference. The team closes out the home portion of the regular season schedule tomorrow night against the Dallas Stars.

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Random Notes…

- With 2 games remaining in the regular season, the Predators are 4th in the Western Conference standings with 100 points, leading 5th place Detroit by one point and 6th place Chicago by two points. The Predators own the tiebreakers with both teams. Detroit has a game in hand over Chicago and Nashville.

- Last night’s Smashville sellout was the 24th of the season, Thursday night has extremely limited tickets available and will be the 25th sellout of the year. Word is that playoff tickets are becoming very limited as well.

- Speaking of attendance, Nashville’s stands at 16,680 average per game for the season, 97.5% of capacity, the best percentage in franchise history, besting the previous record of 97.1% (16,599) in the 99-00 season.

- When Matthew Lombardi was traded to Toronto before the season started no one thought he would play the required number of games for the Predators to get the conditional draft pick. Lombardi played in his 60th game of the season Tuesday, resulting in the Predators getting the Maple Leafs’ fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft.

- Bizarro Stat of the day – The Predators are 31-15-3 when Roman Josi is in the lineup, 14-11-5 when he isn’t.

- Wild night in the NHL last night… San Jose waltzed into Dallas a pulled off a 5-2 victory that puts the Sharks in the driver’s seat and Dallas three points out of the Western Conference 8 spot. Tomorrow night’s game with the Predators is a must-win for the Stars, but they will need help.

- Did I say wild? The Buffalo Sabres put the cherry on the cake of Toronto’s season by blitzing the Maple Leafs after spotting them a three goal lead in the first period, coming back to win in OT 6-5

- I did say wild… Florida had a chance to capture their division last night but Winnipeg had other ideas, knocking of the Panthers in overtime to delay the celebration.

- The 8 seed in the East will go to either Buffalo or Washington. The Caps finish the season hosting Florida then traveling to MSG to conclude the season with a tilt against the Rangers. Buffalo may have the harder road, traveling to Philly on Thursday and finishing in Boston on Saturday.

Tonight’s Impact Game

Detroit @ St. Louis - Regular season games don’t get much bigger than this one. St. Louis is still in the running for the President’s Trophy and the Conference crown. Detroit is trying to hold off the Predators and Blackhawks for the 4 seed and home ice advantage. This one is on NBC Sports Network and TSN2, puck drop at 6:30pm central.

SportsClubStats Update - Nashville
Seeding Potential Percentages – 4th seed – 53%, 5th seed 43%, 6th seed 4%
Highest % Potential Playoff Opponent – Detroit 79.7%, Chicago 16.6%

The Predators have no mathematical chance of finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th or 8th in the Western Conference.

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On the next SlapShot Radio

This week’s SlapShot Radio welcomes back ESPN.com’s Craig Custance and Dallas Stars TV Color Analyst Daryl “Razor” Reaugh, we will also preview the huge Red Wings/Blues game with TrueHockey.com’s Andy Strickland. Join us tonight at 6pm on 102.5 the Game.

Click here to download or listen to previous podcasts.

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