Before we get to the game… 100 consecutive sellouts, for a so-called non-traditional market. Nights like last night make me think of a steamy day in July 2007, when 7,000 hardy hockey fans showed up to tell a billionaire that you can’t take our team. If you look for the first signs, the genesis of where this franchise is right now… it began on that night.
Then local ownership stepped up… then a brilliant move by the ownership group in bringing in Jeff Cogen and Sean Henry. The building of a Stanley Cup contender and a playoff run that came tantalizingly close… and here we stand… Saturday night starts the building of the next 100 sellouts.
Pred Nation… you truly are awesome! On to last night’s action…
The San Jose Sharks had punching their playoff ticket in mind as the puck dropped last night and extending a nine-game point streak. Nashville was looking to extend their lead in the Presidents Trophy race. Nashville has had San Jose’s number in Smashville over the last nine games, posting at least a point in each of them and ironically, the Sharks just needed a single point to clinch their playoff spot.
They didn’t get it…
While the game started a little slow… these two heavyweights traded punches in the first period. Kyle Turris put the Preds up 1-0, burying a rebound off a PK Subban laser. Loga Couture answered a little over a minute later to tie things up. Then… a the midway point of the first… the JoFA line struck with an absolutely gorgeous play that went Ryan Johansen to Viktor Arvidsson to Filip Forsberg and back to Arvy who buried his 29th of the year, but again San Jose countered less than two minutes later as Brenden Dillon tied things up, which is where the first ended.
The teams kept traded chances and solid goaltending from both Martin Jones and Juuse Saros until Craig Smith wired home a rebound from a Ryan Ellis point shot to put the Preds up 3-2… and that is how the second period ended.
San Jose came out firing in the third period… and Juuse Saros was up to the task, stopping 23 of San Jose’s 24 shots… making combination saves like they were nothing and simply being outstanding in net. If anyone was worried about the Predators future in goal after Pekka decides to hang them up… stop.
The Predators were solid defensively, but their discipline could use a little work. They took four penalties in the third period which helped tilt the ice in San Jose’s favor, but despite a too many men penalty that gave the Sharks a late power play… and a fortunate penalty shot call on Ryan Ellis for displacing the net,
Wait… what… a fortunate penalty shot? Well, yes… the penalty shot was stopped… if the delay was called as a standard penalty, the Sharks would have had almost a minute of a 6 on 3 advantage with Martin Jones pulled.
The Predators hung on for the win, which combined with Winnipeg’s loss and Tampa Bay’s loss, increased Nashville’s leads in the conference race and President’s Trophy race. The results last night also added the Boston Bruins as a late entrant to the Presidents Trophy race.
The Predators close out their homestand with a Saturday night tilt against Buffalo, before travelling to Tampa for a Sunday showdown that could go a long way to indicate who is going to get the 1 seed in the playoffs. The game is a sellout.
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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 remain first in the Central Division and the Western Conference with 111 points, leading Winnipeg (0 GIH) by seven points in both races … The Predators lead Boston in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy by four points, the Bruins do have a game in hand on Nashville.
Impact games tonight (all times Central) – 6pm – TBL @ NYR. 8pm – CHI @ COL. 9pm – LAK @ ANA. 9:30pm – STL @ VGK.
Playoff seed chances - The Predators chances of top seed in the West stands at 99% after last night’s win, their chances at the President’s Trophy are up to 72%
The Current Opponent - If the playoffs began today, the Predators would draw the number 8 seed in the second wild card position… currently the Anaheim Ducks.
Most likely first round opponent - The highest percentage goes to Colorado at 28.9%, Anaheim @ 28.5% and St. Louis at 24%.
Teams that have punched their playoff ticket - Nashville, Tampa Bay, Boston, Winnipeg, Vegas, Washington, Toronto. Playoff odds and playoff point line courtesy of SportsClubStats.com
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Random Notes
- The Preds Magic Number for the President’s Trophy is 9.
- Eeli Tolvanen is now officially signed sealed and delivered… and got a rousing cheer from the Smashville faithful last night when he was announced as a scratch. He will have his first practice with the team today at Centennial. No word on when he will make his debut in gold.
- What a story in Chicago last night as a rec league goalie was pressed into service by an injury… Scott Foster, Chicagoland account stopped everything that came at him and preserved a 6-2 win for the Hawks over Winnipeg. H played a little over 1 minutes and made seven saves on seven shots.
- Next one to be eliminated… the Carolina Hurricanes … their tragic number is down to 1. Dallas’ tragic number is now 2.
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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. Our next show is Saturday at 8am. We will be talking to hockey writer Adam Gretz and go down on the farm for a Milwaukee update with Daniel Lavender.
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