Nashville finishes a five game homestand tonight with a huge matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. One of those games that makes you wonder what NBCSN is thinking… Philly at Detroit over a potential Stanley Cup Final preview?
Tampa Bay comes into tonight’s game on the back end of a back-to-back, winning last night in Chicago to snap a three game losing streak. Andre Vasilevskiy was simply amazing, posting 40 saves in the shutout. Vasilevskiy snapped his own streak of allowing at least four or more goals in five consecutive starts. Not sure if we will see Vasilevskiy tonight, Tampa may go with former Arizona netminder Louis Domingue, who has won his only start to the Lightning.
The Predators will probably go with Pekka Rinne tonight, Rinne has won his last four starts and continues to have one of the better regular seasons of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Juuse Saros in net… I do expect to see him more as the NHL schedule intensifies for Nashville after this weekend’s All-Star break.
Nashville has a new hot line as the line of Nick Bonino, Kevin Fiala and Call Jarnkrok. That line posted eight points (3g, 5a) in Saturday night’s win over Florida and Nick Bonino had his best game as a Predator. Bonino has been battling injuries since training camp and he is finally looking comfortable in Peter Laviolette’s scheme.
On the Lightning side, the dynamic duo of Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos have been lighting the lamp with regularity. Kucherov has 61 points (27g, 34a) and Stamkos has 54 points (17g, 37a) … but don’t forget about Brayden Point, who has quietly built a really good season with 19 goals.
On the injury side, the Predators list Filip Forsberg on IR, no word on Mattias Ekholm, who missed Saturday’s game and yesterday’s practice with an undisclosed illness.
The Predators will be looking for their sixth consecutive win and 17th win of the season at Bridgestone Arena. The scoreboard watching can start now as Nashville is looking to keep pace in the hyper-competitive Central. There is only one team below .500 in their last ten (CHI) … three teams are 7-2-1 in their last ten (NSH, WPG, DAL) and Colorado… holy crap, they won their 10th straight last night and are in the second wild card spot as I write this.
Game time is 7pm… former Predator and Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Kariya will be in attendance tonight. One of the first big name free agents to ever sign in Nashville, Kariya is a big part of this franchise’s history. Pregame coverage starts at 6pm on 102.5 the Game, 6:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee.
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“Where We Stand” update… a daily tracking of where the Preds are in the standings and the games that impact them most, brought to you by Mark Lonsway - THE real estate professional for hockey fans!
After last night’s play, the Predators stand second in the Central Division with 62 points, one point behind Winnipeg (3 GIH) and three points ahead of St. Louis (4 GIH) … the Preds lead Dallas (3 GIH) by four points and Colorado (1 GIH) by five points.
Impact games tonight (all times Central) – 6:30pm – COL @ MTL. 7pm – OTT @ STL. 7:30pm – FLA @ DAL. 9:30pm – WPG @ SJS.
Playoff Odds Courtesy SportsClubStats.com - The Predators playoff chances are now at 98% after yesterday’s play.
The Playoff Point Line - I look at the point level needed for a 75%+ chance to make the playoffs… right now, it stands at 97 points.
Playoff odds and playoff point line courtesy of SportsClubStats.com
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Random Notes
- Now this should be fun… PK Subban will be Trevor Noah’s guest on The Daily Show tomorrow night.
- Well… we knew Brad Paisley could sing… play guitar… crack jokes… and hold his own against Carrie Underwood on the CMA Music Awards… but did you know he could paint???
- Central Scouting has their mid-season ratings out and to no one’s surprise, Rasmus Dahlin is the #1 ranked international skater. Andrei Svechnikov of the OHL leads North American skaters.
- Did you know that the “Jackie Robinson” of hockey, Willie O’Ree is not in the Hall of Fame? That’s nuts….
- Eeli Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team is in action today, taking on Salavat Yulaev. He has 17 goals and 16 assists in 44 KHL games. Tolvanen has been named to the Finnish Olympic Team.
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SlapShot Radio’s tenth anniversary season is on. As the longest running hockey show in the region, SSR feeds hockey fans what they crave… intelligent, fun, entertaining talk about their favorite sport and we do it from the opening of training camp all the way through UFA day… the only local hockey show that does that.
We are on every Wednesday night at 7pm on the Predators flagship station, 102.5 the Game. Our co-hosts, Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bring a true insiders perspective to the show. JP Dumont is back in the co-host chair for our next show as we welcome NJ Devils play-by-play man, Matt Loughlin.
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