It’s Game Night in Smashville as the Predators finish their first back-to-back of the season with a tilt against the New York Islanders. The first half was a huge win at the United Center last night as Nashville beat the Blackhawks 2-1 on the strength of a dominant 42 save performance from Pekka Rinne.
Children have scary clowns and monsters living under the bed… Chicago fans and the Blackhawks have Pekka Rinne, and he added to his legend last night by stoning breakaway after breakaway and stopping 19 shots in the first period alone. Without Rinne, last night’s game was a complete blowout by the time the first intermission was started. With the big Finn, it turned into a 2-1 win that not only featured great goaltending on both sides, it also featured some solid secondary scoring from the Preds with goals from Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok.
No time to celebrate as the Predators are back in action tonight taking on the New York Islanders at Bridgestone Arena. I don’t expect a lot of lineup changes for Nashville… we may see Juuse Saros in net, in an obvious start for the backup, but don’t be surprised if Rinne goes back-to-back, simply because there is an extra day off until the next game in San Jose Wednesday night.
New York comes in with Jaroslav Halak in net, a goaltender Nashville is familiar with, Halak is 3-2 with a 2.72 GAA and a .913 save percentage. Offensively led by John Tavares and his linemates, Josh Bailey and Anders Lee. Together they account for 15 goals and 13 assists so far this season. Offseason acquisition Jordan Eberle is still looking for his first goal of the season with six assists.
The Islanders are 3-3-1 against the Western Conference this season with wins over Minnesota, Arizona and San Jose. Nashville is 2-3-0 against the East so far, with both wins coming against Philadelphia.
It’s a 7pm game time in Smashville for the last home game for two weeks as the Preds head out for the annual early November roadie. Pregame starts at 6 on 102.5 the Game, 6:30 on Fox Sports Tennessee… limited tickets remain.
-----------------------------------
While You Were Sleeping… here is this morning’s SlapShot Radio…
-----------------------------------
------------------------------------- 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.
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.
-------------------------------------
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more information, click here.