Five out of six. That’s what the Nashville Predators have started the CMA Road Trip with… capturing five out of a possible six points, taking points from teams that were all ahead of the Preds in the Western Conference standing prior to their games. Not a bad way to get started at all… and last night was pretty sweet. Pasting six goals on a team that had only given up 19 in their previous 13 games has got to feel good for this Nashville team and what may feel better, was the way they did it. Exposing the weaknesses in the Avalanche blueline and taking advantage of an off night from Av’s goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

It was a breakout game for Predators forward Colin Wilson, posting two goals and two assists including the game winner. Finally fully recovered from off-season shoulder surgery, Wilson’s game has been improving steadily resulting in last night’s excellent performance, and last night’s four points almost doubled his season output. The other good news of the night was Viktor Stalberg finally getting off the schnide and scoring his first goal in gold on a sweet setup from Wilson.

Full props have to be given to Carter Hutton, who is taken the opportunity as Pekka Rinne’s fill-in and has posted solid numbers. Blueline play has been a key to this and Pred Nation is breathing a sigh of relief as yet another backup goaltender is playing well in Pred colors for a team that has a tradition of doing this.

The Predators are enroute to Winnipeg as I write this for tomorrow night’s divisional showdown against Winnipeg, who is smarting a bit after taking a 4-1 smackdown from the Chicago Blackhawks.

And here’s the highlights from last night…


So… fifteen games into the season and three games into the CMA road trip and Pred Nation is asking some questions… where is this team really and what can be expected going forward? The team has a 8-5-2 record, good for 5th in the Central Division, two points behind St. Louis, three behind Minnesota, six behind Chicago and Colorado. The team is also two points out of the last wild card playoff position.

One interesting stat involves the Western Conference teeing off on the East… Colorado has played 8 of their 14 games versus the east… stacking up a 7-1-0 record. Chicago has played nine of their 16 games versus the East, each capturing 16 of their 24 points against the other conference. Minnesota has played seven of their 16… in the rest of the division…Dallas has played six, St. Louis has played five, Nashville and Winnipeg, four each. It will be imperative for those that have played five or less to post similar records against the East.

After tomorrow’s Jet game, the Predators will play eight of their next eleven games against Eastern Conference teams, considering the domination the West has shown so far, this could be a real opportunity for Nashville to insert themselves into the race for the division title.

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Random Notes

- Jamie McGinn’s hit on Seth Jones at the end of the first period in last night’s game was yet another launching hit that probably won’t be looked at.

- Nice to see Carrie Underwood sporting a Fanger on the CMA Awards last night.

- Lots of questions surrounding Winnipeg’s scratching of Evander Kane from last night’s Jets game.

- Don’t forget… we announced a contest of SlapShot Radio last night, simply go to the SlapShot Radio Facebook page and “like” it… that’s it. A random fan who “likes” the page will be selected and will win two tickets to see the Predators/Blackhawks game on Saturday night November 16th. The winner will be announced on next Wednesday’s SlapShot Radio.

- Former Pred Jerred Smithson was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs yesterday… good pickup for a team that could uses Smithson’s grit.

- Eleven games tonight, all start times central time – 6pm starts – Panthers @ Bruins, Canadiens @ Senators, Devils @ Flyers, Wild @ Capitals, Islanders @ Hurricanes, Rangers @ Blue Jackets. 6:30pm starts – Stars @ Red Wings, Oilers @ Lightning. 7pm start – Flames @ Blues. 9:30 pm starts – Sabres @ Kings, Canucks @ Sharks.

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