The Nashville Predators are in the Sunshine State for a back-to-back… the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, then a quick shot down Alligator Alley for the Florida Panthers tomorrow. The Predators are facing a crossroads right now, they are starting to allow daylight between themselves and the teams they are chasing for the playoffs, falling 3 points out of the mix. They need to get their act together with some consistency and honestly… that seems to be coming.
Getting a little healthier on the blue line doesn’t hurt. After missing 15 games, Anthony Bitetto was recalled from his one game conditioning stint in Milwaukee and is with the team, this will put a little more grit back on the blueline and restore a couple of expected d-pairings… which certainly helps while PK Subban is on IR for the next couple of weeks. We all know that injuries are part of the game, and how you deal with them make the difference between success and failure, but the death by a thousand cuts injuries to the Nashville blueline are having a huge impact in the chemistry among the d-men.
The other thing to watch for will be goaltending. Pekka Rinne was outstanding in net on Tuesday night and who can forget Juuse Saros’ last performance in St. Louis? We will see both goaltenders on this back-to-back. While nothing is announced officially, I would expect Rinne tonight and Saros tomorrow… but I could also see a scenario where the starters get reversed. We’ll get an indication at day of game skate later this morning.
The Lightning have been floating a bit since Christmas and are coming off of a 6-4 loss to Winnipeg but injuries have really impacted this team. Everyone points to the injury to Steven Stamkos, but the issue in Tampa is team defense. Given the focus on it in yesterday’s practice session, the Lightning have been sent a clear message, so I would expect a better effort from the team. But the injuries go deeper… losing Ben Bishop to IR stings even more… the Lightning will be counting on Andrei Vasilevskiy as the man between the pipes.
Offensively, the Lighting are doing it by committee, with five players in double digit goal scoring, led by Nikita Kucherov’s 15 on the season, add in 23 assists and Kucherov is at a point per game plus so far this year. The blueline is where Tampa is healthiest… nothing beyond the normal mid-season bumps and bruises among Victor Hedman and company.
Game time is 6:30pm…coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee and 102.5 the Game.
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Last night’s SlapShot Radio…
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Random Notes
- Where We Stand – After last night’s play, the Nashville Predators stand 6th in the Central Division, trailing 5th place Dallas by a point with two games in hand, 4th place Winnipeg by 2 points with 4 games in hand, 3rd place St. Louis by 7 points with a game in hand. Nashville is 3 points out of a Wild Card spot. The Predators have three games in hand over the first wild card team, Calgary and trail them by 5 points, they have a single game in hand over the second wild card, Los Angeles and trail the Kings by 3 points.
- There is a great article on the Predators website, written by Pekka Rinne… a very personal telling of his story and his “Improbable Journey to Nashville.… It’s a really good read.
- Tonight is Viktor Arvidsson’s 100th NHL game.
- Believe it or not, the Predators have gathered points in six of their last eight games… if your going to lose, at least get a point…
- Reid Boucher is rapidly becoming the Mark Arcobello of 2016/17… the Devils waived him in order to send him down to the AHL… the Nashville Predators picked him up… the experiment didn’t work so the Predators waived him… the New Jersey Devils grabbed him back, but apparently another team put a claim in as well, meaning that the Devils needed to place him on waivers again in order to send him down… and the Vancouver Canucks took him… we will see what happens next.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are in Washington tonight with history on their sticks… a win tonight ties the NHL record of 17 consecutive wins set in 1993 by the Pittsburgh Penguins… now why NBCSN isn’t covering it, I will never know.
- The IIHF World Juniors culminate with a great gold medal game tonight… USA vs. Canada. Two Predators prospects on these teams… Patrick Harper (2016 5th round pick) for Team USA and 2016 1st round pick Dante Fabbro. Both players have had solid tournaments, but Fabbro has shone on the Canadian blueline.
- Gonna be split attention for a lot of hockey fans tonight… puck drop in Washington is at 6:07 Central for Caps/Jackets… Preds/Lightning drops the puck at 6:37pm… the World Juniors crown their champ tonight with an awesome rematch of New Year’s Eve preliminary game… USA vs. Canada for the Gold starts at 7pm on NHL Network.
- Seven games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 6pm – EDM @ BOS, CBJ @ WSH. 6:30pm – NSH @ TBL. 7pm – CAR @ STL. 7:30pm - BUF @ CHI. 9:30pm - DET @ LAK, MIN @ SJS.
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