After Rich Clune scored his third goal of the season on a penalty shot, giving the Predators a 3-0 lead, a new hashtag broke out on Twitter, #TheClunaticFringe. Clune played a key role in Nashville’s 4-0 victory over the Dallas Stars last night at American Airlines Arena. The win broke a six game road losing streak and was the first time the Predators scored more than one goal on the road in more than a month. It has to be said that Clune is developing into a bit of a diamond in the rough. Tough to be sure, but he is showing an offensive upside that was completely unexpected to this observer. He is showing himself to be a prototypical Pred that can be plugged into almost any situation.

For the second consecutive game, the Predators faced a future divisional foe and the seeds of rivalry are already beginning to sprout. Things were chippy on Saturday night against Minnesota but things got downright nasty against the Stars. No one should be surprised about the nasty turn as these two teams have been going at each other for years. From the silly flap that was fanned by Stars president Jim Lites regarding Mike Modano and his becoming the all-time American-born scoring leader. I clearly remember that night… I remember the overhand, from behind slash that Modano delivered… the unpunished slash. Yup… I wrote on this blog back then that we were seeing the beginning of a rivalry.

Funny that there was a common participant in all of the fun, both back in ’07 and last night. Stephane Robidas… the third period fracus, driven in part from Kari Lehtonen and Robidas repeatedly cross-checking Mike Fisher, boiled the bad feelings over and all of a sudden everyone paired off and things looked like a classic game from the 70’s.

One thing is clear, these two teams are building up a nice healthy dislike for each other, there have two very chippy games so far this season… I’m looking forward to April 12 in Smashville, it should be a good one with playoff positioning on the line, and tones being set for the divisional rivalry to come.

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“Where We Stand”

The Nashville Predators stand in a three way tie for 8th in the Western Conference, 1 point behind 6th place Detroit and Phoenix, 2 points behind 4th place LA and St. Louis.

SportsClubStats Update

Predators Playoff Chances – 57.2% up 19.1% from yesterday.
Most likely number of points needed to make the playoffs - 55

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Random Notes

- Last night was Pekka Rinne’s fifth shutout of the season, he leads the league in that category.

- The Predators are now 18-1-1 when Nick Spaling scores.

- Paul Gaustad left the game with an upper body injury, he is returning to Nashville to be re-evaluated. He joins Patric Hornqvist and Colin Wilson on the shelf.

- Nashville’s favorite Duck, Corey Perry was thrown out of the game against the Wild, a very questionable hit by a repeat offender. He has a phone hearing, which means he won’t be suspended for more than five games.

- According to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos is reporting that Ryan Millers’ “days are numbered” in Buffalo. Really??? That’s just crazy.

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