The Nashville Predators, after getting the tar beaten out of them Monday night, are in Tampa Bay for their lone game against the Lightning this season. The Lightning appears to be a team in turmoil. Huge turnover during the off-season, lots of new players in the mix, a new coach, new coach fired, another new coach. A quick hook seems to be the order of the season in the NHL, the firing of Barry Melrose being the second coaching change that has happened in the first six weeks of the season.

Monday night’s destruction has had a few days to marinate in the team’s mind. It’s not unusual for a team to have a letdown after such a long road trip, the focus tends to be on re-connecting with the family and life at home. San Jose jumped the Preds, took their lunch money, and initiated a street brawl. A positive to be taken out of Monday’s game is that the Preds continued to fight back, both on the ice on with their fists, as the third period featured a few good bouts. Most of the fisticuffs came out of frustration. Frustration at the results of the game, and quite frankly, frustration at the officiating… not much control exhibited from the officiating crew.

Tonight’s game may come down to special teams as both teams are ranked near the bottom of the league in both power play and penalty kill

Coverage for tonight’s game is on 104.5 the Zone and FS Tennessee. Puck drops at 6:30pm.

-------------------------------

Something I’ve been talking about for quite awhile looks like it may be happening. A story in Wednesday’s Toronto’s Globe and Mail is reporting that the NHL salary cap will drop. The estimation in the story has the cap dropping by almost $9 million. The drop should hit the escrow fund first, then the main cap.

Read the entire story here… http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081119.wspt_shoalts20/GSStory/GlobeSportsHockey/home

-------------------------------

PRED BITS

Quick Start – The Predators are 5-0-0 when leading after the first period.

Early Start – Keep in mind that the Preds next home game (Tuesday 11/25) has early start time to accommodate Versus. Puck drops at 6pm instead of the customary 7pm.

Schedule – December still has the Predators on the road quite a bit, with games in Buffalo, St. Louis, Columbus, Phoenix, Florida, Edmonton and Colorado interspersed with home games against Colorado, Minnesota, Vancouver, Dallas, New York Islanders and the first game of six against Detroit on Boxing Day. The next extended homestand begins on New Year's Day.

Economy Bites – The tough economy is driving ticket price cuts… The Detroit Red Wings are offering blocks of tickets for $9. Wouldn’t be surprised to see that trend spread to other parts of the country as the recession sinks in.

-------------------------------

Join Brandon Felder and me for the fastest hour in radio… HockeyBuzz Radio, Mondays at 6:00pm on SportsRadio 560 WNSR, you can listen online at www.wnsr.com or you can download the podcast of the show at hockeybuzzradio.podhoster.com

Our next show will feature Blues blogger Andy Strickland and a quick visit down of the farm with Milwaukee play-by-play man Aaron Sims.

Be on the lookout for our new website… www.hockeybuzzradio.com designed to be the hub for all things related to hockey in middle Tennessee. Coming soon…

Join the Discussion: Chat Room » Message Board »

Tags: nashville predators

» Game Night - Freeman Interview - Sullivan Targets Return - 12:30 UPDATE

» Monday Notes - Updated with Sullivan Info

» Upon Further Review - Nerves in Pred Nation

» Upon Further Review - New Year's Game Night

» Upon Further Review - Back-to-Back in the Rockies