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That's Two - Thank you sir, may we have another?

October 13, 2017, 9:40 AM ET [8 Comments]
Paul McCann
Nashville Predators Blogger •Predators Radio Network • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Get an early morning hockey fix tomorrow as SlapShot Radio is on at 7am on 102.5 the Game… Wakey, Wakey!!! We’ll get you ready for the Chicago game and have some fun with ESPN hockey writer Greg Wyshynski. Saturday morning at 7am on 102.5 the Game.

So… on to the festivities at Bridgestone Arena last night… The Nashville Predators posted their second consecutive win to draw back to the .500 mark on this young season. A sold out Smashville was alive and LOUD last night as they witnessed a nice 4-1 takedown of division rival Dallas.

It certainly didn’t start that way… the Predators came out flat and the Stars took advantage, scoring a power play goal after a delay of game penalty on Pekka Rinne. The Predators had an opportunity to do some real damage just a minute later as Stars forward Martin Hanzal laid a nasty hit on Yannick Weber that got whistled for a five-minute major. Weber left the game, leaving the Preds with five d men for the rest of the game. What followed was… well… you remember the phrase Herb Brooks used? Yup… it fits here. That power play looked like a monkey trying to hump a football. Now I have a visual to go with that.

Frankly, Nashville was lucky to just be down 0-1 after 20 minutes.

Things reversed quickly as the second period began as Samuel Girard continued to make his case for not being sent back to juniors. Girard wired in a laser from the point off a sweet feed from PK Subban to even the game and give the 19-year-old his first NHL goal. Girard may be small, but he can skate, has a howitzer for a point shot and can really move the puck.

Two minutes later, Jason Spezza took an ill-advised tripping penalty and Filip Forsberg made him pay. Pouncing on a rebound and depositing his 4th goal of the season… keep in mind that Forsberg didn’t have his first goal until November last season… That put the Preds up 2-1 and the guys in gold just kept on working, but Dallas’ defense stiffened and Ben Bishop made several key saves to keep the game close, until there was about 5 minutes to go in the game.

Viktor Arvidsson had an opportunity to knock one in from the slot, took a baseball swing at the puck and whiffed… a failed clearing attempt from Dallas put the puck on Forsberg’s stick. Arvidsson could’ve given up on the play but did not, he hustled down the slot, Forsberg found him with a nice pass and Arvidsson put the Preds up 3-1 with a beauty of a wrister.

Dallas then pulled Ben Bishop and after two unsuccessful attempts, PK Subban finally gave the fans the Frosty’s they were wanting with an empty netter to give the Preds their winning margin. Another uneven effort, but you can feel the team starting to put it together.

Next up… a trip back to the Windy City, when the last time Nashville visited, they had just completed winning the first two of their first-round playoff series last spring. Expect the Blackhawks to have a really big chip on their shoulder…

Here’s last night’s highlights…

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Random Notes

- The Stars had been averaging 39.7 shots a game coming into last night… after giving up 13 shots in the first period, they only gave up 18 for the rest of the game.

- A nice, workman-like game from Pekka Rinne last night.

- Key stat for Nashville – 6 of 8 players that have taken a faceoff this season are at 50% or better. Ryan Johansen is at a 57% win rate.

- No update on Yannick Weber yet. This team’s defensive depth looks like it is going to be tested again.

- Vegas plays its second home game tonight… kinda curious to see what their opening will look like.

- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit club has now won 13 consecutive games, beating Lada 4-0 yesterday with Tolvanen being held off the scoresheet. Tolvanen has 11 goals and 9 assists for 20 points in 16 games so far. Jokerit goes for lucky 13 a little later this morning against Lada.

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SlapShot Radio has an exciting season in store for our tenth anniversary season. 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 new co-hosts are ex-Preds Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bringing a true insiders perspective to the show. Well… almost every Wednesday… our next show is Saturday at 7am… we are stepping aside for the players show…

We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results at a reasonable price. Just ask our sponsors… including day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com.

We are also welcoming a new sponsor to the SlapShot Radio family… The Crag… Nashville’s premiere location for indoor rock climbing. Newton Dominey and his awesome crew have a great location in Cool Springs and they are opening a new location in South Nashville at the corner of Old Hickory Blvd and Nolensville Rd. Check out their website at ILoveRockCLimbing.com If you’ve never done it before… you need to try, they specialize on helping first timers.

Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great preseason advertising deals available for our tenth season when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com

You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.

If you are outside of the listening area, listen live online at The Game website or check out the podcast about two hours after the show at on SoundCloud.

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