It’s Game Night in Smashville, a battle between the two Western Conference teams in the Wild Card spots do battle tonight as the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators tangle at Bridgestone Arena. Pred Nation is anxiously awaiting word from day of game skate about captain Mike Fisher, who has missed the last two days of practice.

Calgary comes into town fresh off a loss to the Washington Capitals, but they have won 12 of their last 14. That streak started in Nashville with the Flames beating the Preds in overtime. Calgary’s is missing a key piece of their lineup as Matthew Tkachuk is serving a two game suspension for a nasty elbow delivered to Drew Doughty in Calgary’s win over LA over the weekend. Tkachuk needs to learn his lesson, because this observer thinks he got off lightly on his punishment for the incident.

The Flames are led in scoring by their terrific trio of Johnny Gaudreau ( 16g, 37a, 53 points) Sean Monahan (24g, 26a, 50 points) and Mikael Backlund (21g, 29a, 50 points.) Calgary is a very balanced team that has one of the better road records in the Western Conference. Once goaltender Brian Elliott got his mojo back, this Flames team began to rise in the standings and Tuesday’s loss in DC snapped a franchise record 11 game win streak for the former Blues netminder.

For Nashville, expect Pekka Rinne in net after an outstanding performance on Monday night against Arizona. When you look at the forwards, you see an object lesson in the positive aspects of back pressure. With 16 forwards clamoring for 12 slots of ice time, you either perform… or sit. Look no forward than Craig Smith for a positive example of it.

Smith, a healthy scratch against Carolina, returned to the lineup and had one his best games of a difficult season for the forward. Smith set up the game winner and the insurance marker and was all over the ice. It’s just a matter of time before the breaks start going Smith’s way and perhaps Monday’s game was the first step in that process. Keep an eye on the JOFA line as the Flames have struggled to contain both Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg and give the success Ryan Ellis has seen lately, he bears watching as well.

These teams have split the season series so far, each team winning on the road… the rubber match drops the puck at 7:07pm tonight. Extremely limited tickets remain for this Wild Card showdown. Coverage begins with pregame on 102.5 the Game and the Predators Radio Network at 6pm. Predators Live begins at 6:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee. Game coverage starts at 7pm on both media.

Be in your seats early… last time these two teams met, Calgary jumped out to a 4-1 lead before Nashville came back and took a 5-4 lead before surrendering in overtime… this one may have a lot of fireworks.

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Random Notes

- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 83 points in 72 games played and now hold the last Wild Card berth in the West. They are tied in points for 3rd in the Central with St. Louis, but the Blues hold the tie breaker (ROW). Nashville trails the first wild card slot holder Calgary by three points (and hold a game-in-hand over the Flames) and leads Los Angeles by eight points in the wild card race. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 97.2%.

- Impact Game(s) Tonight - Dropping the puck at the same time as Nashville is VAN @ STL. Another of the Blues non-playoff team opponents down the stretch, only two of their last ten games are against teams in playoff position. Six of those eight against non-playoff position opponents have already been eliminated from contention.

- If the Playoffs Started Today - As the 8 seed, the Predators would play the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round. Chicago leads the Western Conference and Central Division by six points. Unless the Hawks defecate the bedclothes, they are winning the division and conference.

- Teams that have clinched playoff spots - Four down, 12 to go… Washington, Chicago, Columbus and Pittsburgh have punched their tickets.

- Playoff “Tragic Numbers” - In the West… Dallas = 5, Winnipeg = 8, Los Angeles = 12. In the East… Carolina = 15, Tampa Bay = 15, New York Islanders = 18. (Stick tap to Damian Echecarrieta for this data)

- The Nashville Predators remain in the 14 spot in the latest NHL.com Super 16.

- USA Today’s Kevin Allen has named eight players who’s seasons are flying under the radar… two names on that list are Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Ellis.

- Watch for the Flames center Sam Bennett to be on left wing, covering for the suspended Tkachuk.

- Twelve games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 6pm – TBL @ BOS, CBJ @ WSH. 6:30pm – NJD @ TOR, CAR @ MTL, PIT @ OTT, ARI @ FLA. 7pm – VAN @ STL, CGY @ NSH, PHI @ MIN. 7:30pm – DAL @ CHI. 8pm – EDM @ COL. 9:30pm – WPG @ LAK.

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Tweets by @PredPAPaul


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