March begins with the Nashville Predators hosting the Edmonton Oilers with the Preds holding on to a playoff spot. There are six teams battling for three spots, third in the Pacific and the two wild cards, those six teams are within four points of each other. Being in playoff position as the March scheduled gets going is a good thing… holding on to it and building on it needs to be the focus as the Predators schedule is fraught with danger and is almost the perfect embodiment of the Chinese symbol for crisis.
That Chinese symbol… the symbol for danger, with the symbol for opportunity laid over it.
The March schedule has real opportunity for Nashville to make some serious hay and build up a head of steam for the playoffs. The danger is that twelve of the Predators next fifteen games are against teams in either currently in a playoff spot, or within a point of a playoff spot. Nashville will certainly have to earn their place in the playoffs with that kind of schedule.
That stretch begins tonight with a rare Monday night game in Smashville as the Edmonton Oilers come to town, looking to build off their win in Winnipeg on Saturday night while the Preds look to wash the taste of their loss to Colorado out of their mouths.
How does Nashville do that? Easy, play the same way they did on Saturday night. The advanced stats from Saturday’s game show a team that played one of their best games of the season and deserved a better fate. The Predators simply kept working and never gave up… that’s akey for tonight as they run up against the most dominant 1-2 punch in the league with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Between these two young superstars, they have 70 goals and 121 assists for 191 points on the season.
Yeah… they hockey good.
Nashville, however, has the defense potential to limit the impact of these stars. They effectively limited Nathan MacKinnon and his line mates on Saturday and will need to bring that same effort on the forecheck tonight.
On the injury front, the Predators IR is clear, Edmonton lists Joakim Nygard, James Neal and Oscar Klefbom on injured reserve as the day dawns. Recent acquisition Andreas Athanasiou is expected to be in the lineup after battling through an injury.
In net… I would not be surprised to see Pekka Rinne tonight and Juuse Saros complete the second half of the back-to-back tomorrow night in Minnesota. Both netminders have been playing very well and have been a key reason for the team’s recent resurgence. For Edmonton, pick your poison… Mike Smith or Mikko Koskinen… Koskinen’s stats are slightly better but Mike Smith has certainly had his share of success against the Preds over his career. If I am a betting man, I think it will be Smith.
Game time is 7pm at Bridgestone Arena, pregame starts at 6pm on 102.5 the Game, 6:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee. Limited tickets remain for tonight’s Western Conference tilt.
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ICYMI – Yesterday’s SlapShot Radio will be posted to SoundCloud later today.
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Where They Stand – a daily look at where the Predators are in the playoff race. As play opens on 3/2/2020, the Nashville Predators are in the 4 spot in the Central and the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. The Preds are tied in points with Winnipeg and Arizona and trail Vancouver by two points and Calgary by three. They have three games in hand over the Flames, Coyotes and Jets. The Preds trail Dallas by nine points for third in the Central and the Preds hold a game in hand over the Stars.
Impact games tonight – EDM @ NSH, COL @ DET.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- No changes observed to the lines at practice yesterday.
- Fascinating how the emergency backup goaltender is becoming a controversy… hmmm… it couldn’t have anything to do with Toronto being beaten by one could it??? Nah…
- Edmonton has won just two of their last six.
- February ended up being the second best month of the season so far as the Preds gathered 17 points, they got 18 in October.
- Tonight’s games – 6:30pm – COL @ DET. 7pm – EDM @ NSH.
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SlapShot Radio is back for our 12th season as Zack, Brent and I are on Monday night’s this season. The best hour of hockey talk on the longest running hockey show in the southeast … Join us Mondays at 7pm on 102.5 the Game… except tonight.
Our sponsor list continues to grow. Not only are we welcoming back Drs. Jane Bacon and Aileen Kruger at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762 and our good friend Carter Church, Your Murfreesboro real estate expert with Weichert – The Andrews Group. And our newest sponsors… Cool Springs Wines and Spirits! The largest spirit store in all of middle Tennessee! And La-Z-Boy Nashville! Three locations, locally owned and operated, check out La-Z-Boy in Murfreesboro, Hendersonville and Cool Springs!
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