It’s Game Night at MSG tonight for the Nashville Predators as the New York Rangers take back over the Garden after last night’s WWE show. Wait… what? That was an NBA game? Wacky, baby, wacky…
This is an important two points for both teams as the Rangers and the Predators are trying to solidify their playoff positions with a peloton of competitors chasing them. The Rangers seem to have righted the ship after a stretch of losses, coincidentally… said righting of the ship has happened at the same time Henrik Lunqvist found his game.
So the big question among Rangers faithful, has the King returned to his throne? After Tuesday night’s 43 save performance over Anaheim… that answer looks to be yes. That may mean big trouble for the Nashville Predators. The Rangers are giving up a ton of shots this season and they are now making an effort to clear traffic in front of Lundqvist, thateffort has paid of for New York in their resurgence. the Predators will need to continue their excellent puck movement as of late to counter these efforts.
The Predators offense certainly woke up a bit Tuesday night… after finally getting a couple of goal calls to go their way. That has been a challenge this season… especially against Vancouver. This is a different looking Predator team then the one that lost to Blueshirts back in December. A more defensively responsible one, one with a lot more grit. That identity has served this team well as they continue their ascent in the Central Division standings, something that needs to continue if Nashville is to fight off a resurgent St. Louis Blues.
Should be an interesting day in New York as there is a nasty storm being predicted, hopefully it will not impact the team’s travel post game back to Nashville… however, as I write this, flights are being cancelled into the New York airports. Puck drop is 6:08pm, pregame coverage starts at 5pm on 102.5 the Game, 5:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee. Game coverage on both media starts at 6pm.
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The latest edition of SlapShot Radio is posted…
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Random Notes
- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 60 points in 53 games played and continue to stand 3rd in the Central Division. Nashville trails the division leading Minnesota Wild by 16 points and 2nd place Chicago by 11 points with two games in hand. Nashville continues to lead 4th place St. Louis by one point. The Preds have a game in hand over the Blues. St. Louis has the first wild card slot, Calgary has the second… both teams lead Los Angeles by a single point. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 85.9%
- A scoring change was announced yesterday from the Vancouver game. The game winner, originally awarded to Filip Forsberg, was given to Viktor Arvidsson.
- Trade talk is heating up, and given the depth on defense, I can imagine that GM David Poile is fielding some calls but… I don’t see a big move in this deadline season… the team is just coming together and the addition of McLeod and Fiddler has helped in the veteran leadership role player department. I would not be surprised if the Preds stand pat.
- The tiniest bit of separation is beginning to open up in the Western Conference as Dallas and Vancouver have fallen seven points off the pace and Winnipeg five points off the last wild card slot. A few more points and these teams may need to join Arizona and Colorado in the “sellers… category.
- One whale of a hockey game in St. Paul last night… with the worst possible result for Pred fans. A Chicago win in OT.
- Back to back home games await this weekend before Nashville hits their “bye… week. Florida on Saturday afternoon and Dallas on Sunday.
- Eleven games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 6pm – SJS @ BOS, ANA @ BUF, NSH @ NYR, NYI @ PHI, DET @ WSH, VAN @ CBJ. 6:30pm – STL @ TOR, DAL @ OTT, LAK @ FLA. 8pm – PIT @ COL, MTL @ ARI.
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