The last home game before Christmas sees the Carolina Hurricanes in town for a Thursday night rematch. These two teams met at the end of November and Carolina took a 4-3 shootout win over Nashville in Raleigh. Tonight’s rematch sees both teams coming off of disappointing losses. The ‘Canes got slapped around on Tuesday afternoon in Toronto and Nashville dropped a 6-4 decision to Winnipeg in a breathtaking, back-and-forth affair.
The Predators have spent the last two days processing their loss to Winnipeg, their first regulation loss in December, a familiar refrain in the Preds giving up a late goal to either lose a lead or game. One I thought that the team had fixed… but it reared its’ ugly head again. Carolina got spanked in Toronto 8-1 on Tuesday afternoon, that game snapped a three game winning streak for the ‘Canes. The Hurricanes have had some success against the West this season, picking up at least a point in 11 of their 17 inter-conference games so far.
In net tonight, expect Pekka Rinne for Nashville… for Carolina? Who knows? Scott Darling had the two point conversion hung on him in giving up 8 on Tuesday… It dropped his GAA to 2.87 and his save percentage dropped to .896. Cam Ward’s numbers aren’t any better, he has a 3.06 GAA and a .906 SV%. We should get more info on this at the morning skate.
On the injury front, Lee Stempniak remains of IR for Carolina and Ryan Ellis is still listed on IR for Nashville… but… he was a full participant in yesterday’s practice and was not wearing a “non-contact… jersey. The return of Ryan Ellis is drawing closer, and Pred Nation is rejoicing.
So… which team has more resilience? Which one bounces back better? We will find out tonight at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is 7pm, pregame starts at 6pm on 102.5 the Game and 6:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee.
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Random Notes
- On a side note… soccer fans are rejoicing as Nashville was awarded an MLS expansion franchise yesterday. The Nashville sports scene welcomes our new team in a sport that is growing like crazy.
- SlapShot Radio’s holiday edition runs on 102.5 the Game and Sirius/XM’s NHL Network Radio this year… the schedule is as follows… on The Game – Saturday at 8am and 11am on Christmas Day. ON NHL Network Radio we will be playing the holiday edition on Christmas Day at 5pm and on 12/26 at 7am.
- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit team is playing, but Tolvanen is on loan to the Finnish Team for the World Juniors tourney. Tolvanen has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points in 39 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. Our co-hosts, Dan Keczmer and JP Dumont bring a true insiders perspective to the show. We have a special holiday edition that will begin running at 8am on Saturday on 102.5 the Game. We will also be airing on NHL Network Radio on SiriusXM throughout the holiday as part of SXM’s Christmas programming.
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