Game night in the desert as the Nashville Predators look to keep pace in the Central as they take on the struggling Arizona Coyotes. The Desert dogs seem to have their ownership issues ironed out and now have work to do with the on ice product as they are mired near the basement of the Pacific Division, four points ahead of Edmonton.
The Coyotes have been off since Saturday’s loss to Boston and will be trying to snap a three game losing streak, being outscored 14-4 over that span. Home ice has not been kind to Arizona as the team has lost their last seven at home two and are now 4-7-2 overall in the desert. Much is being made over the team’s attendance struggles, mostly by agenda driven writers that are offended by hockey in markets they don’t deem worthy, but the Coyotes are going through a phase of trying to sell more and give away less. It is something that is painful at first (just ask Florida) but will, combined with some hard work in the community and some improvement on the ice, will lead to better financial results (just ask Nashville.)
In a strangely familiar scenario, the Coyotes are led in scoring by a defenseman, Keith Yandle with 19 points, leading goal scorer is Mikkel Boedker, with nine so far, Shane Doan has seven, Antoine Vermette has six. Where Arizona is struggling is between the pipes. Mike Smith has simply not performed so far this season, posting a 3.27 GAA and .890 save percentage. Backup Devan Dubnyk is better stat-wise with a 2.74 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Each goaltender has five wins so far, but Dubnyk only has 2 losses and one OT loss on the season.
Nashville comes in after a 3-0 win over Colorado, one point behind Chicago with a game in hand on the ‘Hawks. The Predators should be able to take advantage of a porous defense and a fairly weak penalty kill in this game. In fact the only statistical disadvantage I can find is on the man advantage, where the Coyotes are converting 20% of their chances, but only 14% at home. The Predators overall PP % is down to 10.7%. But that is definitely a tale of two power plays. The home percentage is 2.3% (1-44) ... the only team in the NHL with a single digit conversion at home. The road percentage is a far more respectable 20% (8-40) and tonight could be a recipe for improvement on that stat.
Game time is 8pm central tonight, expect Pekka Rinne in net for the Preds and it is Mike Ribeiro’s first game back since being bought out (and thrown under the bus) by the Coyotes. He posted a goal and an assist in the Preds win over Arizona at Bridgestone Arena back in October and I would expect a very motivated number 63 in the lineup tonight. Coverage for tonight’s game on Fox Sports Tennessee with the Voice of the Predators, Pete Weber on the call… Willy Daunic will call the action on the Predators Radio Network (Flagship – 102.5 the Game) … pregame begins at 7:30.
Here’s your preview from nhl.com
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Random Notes
- SlapShot Radio is back on Sirius/XM’s NHL Network Radio’s holiday programming lineup and will air at least 8 times over the Christmas holiday weekend. I will pass along the schedule as soon as I get it. Thanks to Joe Thistle and Peter Berce and the whole NHL Network Radio team.
- Paul Gaustad is listed as day-to-day after leaving Tuesday night’s game after just two shifts. Expect Derek Roy to return to the lineup tonight.
- If the Preds win tonight, it would mark the 1170th win as a general manager for Preds GM David Poile, tying him for second on the NHL’s all-time wins list for a GM.
- As we talked about on last night’s SlapShot Radio. This Nashville team has seen its share of injuries and the depth signed during the summer has really been a plus.
- Don’t forget to vote! The NHL All-Star Fan Vote is on… current results have Pekka Rinne standing fifth among NHL goalies, Shea Weber is 7th among NHL d-men, Roman Josi is 15th. James Neal is ranked 29th and Filip Forsberg is ranked 30th among NHL forwards. Forsberg is the only rookie to make the top vote getter list.
- According to Darren Dreger, Minnesota and Colorado will be getting Stadium Series games next year. Winnipeg may be getting a Heritage Classic.
- Ten games tonight –Blackhawks @ Bruins, Flames @ Sabres, Devils @ Flyers, Blue Jackets @ Capitals, Kings @ Ottawa, Canes @ Bolts, NYI @ Blues, Jets @ Av’s, Preds @ ‘Yotes, Wild @ Sharks.
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