The win streak is now at five and after a well deserved day off yesterday, the Nashville Predators get back to practice today. Looking back on Saturday night’s game has me applauding the defense. Not only for their team defense, not only for their offensive contributions, but for the leadership and calm demeanor they brought to the third period after Florida halved the lead on a fluke goal from Keith Yandle. It would’ve been easy to hit the panic button a bit and try to do too much.
Nope… instead the calmly and efficiently strangled the life out of any offensive opportunities, clearing the puck effectively and clearing the shooting lanes to allow Pekka Rinne to see everything coming at him. It was the blueline’s best performance of the season as a unit.
And let’s not forget Mr. Fiala… Kevin Fiala was in beast mode… playing with fire and passion… and finish… don’t forget finish. He was “johnny-on-the-spot… again, streaking right down Broadway to convert a sweet feed from Calle Jarnkrok, going five hole to score on the first shot of the game. Then did is again midway through the second period… Nick Bonino feeds Jarnkrok who deflected it right to Fiala… again coming right down the slot for his second of the game.
Kevin Fiala’s game is maturing right before our eyes. You can see that over the past few months that the game has finally slowed down for him. He is seeing the ice better and now is putting together his experience with his skill set. We watched that happen with Filip Forsberg and now we are seeing it with Fiala.
With two more games before the All-Star break, Nashville can go into the last extended off period of the season on a serious roll. They finish their five game homestand tomorrow night with the suddenly slumping Tampa Bay Lightning… a team that goes into tonight’s game in Chicago on a three game losing streak. Then the Preds take off for New Jersey for a date with the Devils.
Upon return from the break, you can expect a few things… 15 games in the next 30 days and the return of Filip Forsberg to the lineup. In those 15 games, Nashville will only play four games inside the Central and only seven inside the Western Conference. Of those 15 games, seven are against teams out of the current playoff picture (as I write this.)
The table is set… the real grind is set to begin in eight days.
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USA Hockey lost a key cog in their growth and maturity yesterday as we learned of the passing of the GM of the US Men’s Olympic Hockey team, Jim Johannson. Johannson’s passion for the game was evident as he represented the US twice in Olympic competition, in 1988 and 1992 and once in the World’s in ’92. Johannson played 374 games of pro hockey including two seasons with the Milwaukee Admirals while they were still in the IHL.
We at SlapShot Radio were lucky enough to interview this fine man in December for our holiday show that was broadcast not only locally on 102.5 the Game, but internationally on SiriusXM’s NHL Network Radio. Here is our interview with Jim… Rest in peace Jim… you will be missed.
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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 are now 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 by seven. Winnipeg’s win yesterday added to the Preds games in hand over the Jets.
Impact games tonight (all times Central) – 6pm – COL @ TOR. 7pm – OTT @ MIN. 7:30pm – TBL @ CHI.
Playoff Odds Courtesy SportsClubStats.com - The Predators playoff chances are now at 98.1% 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… and rising.
Playoff odds and playoff point line courtesy of SportsClubStats.com
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Random Notes
- An outstanding, introspective article on the Preds website from Ryan Ellis and his journey back to the lineup.
- The Preds did say they wanted to make some noise coming back from the bye week… they’ve done that so far.
- Mattias Ekholm missed Saturday’s game with an “illness… … some were describing it as the flu, but nothing official from the team.
- The Hockey News has a ranking of the 31 starting goaltenders in the league… Pekka Rinne comes in at number 2, right behind tomorrow’s opponent… Andre Vasilevskiy and right in front of Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.
- Eeli Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team dropped their third straight game yesterday against Neftekhimik. Tolvanen only played a little over three minutes in the game, no word on why. The young phenom has 17 goals and 16 assists in 44 KHL games.
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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 and JP Dumont is in the co-host chair for this week’s show. Our co-hosts, Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bring a true insiders perspective to the show. We will get you ready for the New Jersey game and take a look at the upcoming All-Star Weekend.
We have been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results4 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. Also… 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 have opened 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.
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