It’s Western Wild Card showdown tonight at Bridgestone Arena as the first wild card Nashville Predators take on the second wild card Calgary Flames in a critical game for both teams. The Flames have only one apparent path to the playoffs, and that is the wild card as they trail third place Anaheim by ten points in the Pacific. The Predators still have a very clear line of sight to the third slot in the Central as they have two games in hand over St. Louis and only trail the Blues by three points. The Predators and Blues have one final game on the schedule, April 2 in St. Louis.
Tonight’s game sees a Calgary team in game two of a five game roadie that started with a bitter pill to swallow, a 2-1 overtime loss to Vancouver on Saturday. That loss has been marinating for a couple of days and the Flames cannot afford a losing streak at this critical point of the season. Calgary has a very balanced attack, seven players have scored in double digits but they have struggled defensively and their off season goaltending solution, the acquisition of Brian Elliott has not worked out like they hoped.
Nashville comes into tonight’s game with a need to string a few wins together. Since winning the last game before the All-Star break the team has gone loss-win-loss-win-loss-loss-win-loss-win for a 5-5-0 run that has the team thanking the heavens for the mediocrity being displayed by most of the wild card teams. The maddening part of the last ten games have been the hints… the peeks… the outright teases we have seen from this team. At points they look like a real Cup contender and at others they look like they belong with Colorado at the bottom of the conference.
Tonight’s tilt is the start of a four home game in six day stretch for Nashville. At the conclusion of it, Nashville will have 20 games remaining, 8 at home and 12 on the road. Oh… and the trade deadline will be three days away… and the rumors of the Predators working on a deal with Colorado continue to swirl. There will be no shortage of intrigue over the next few weeks.
Game time is 7pm tonight, pregame coverage will start at 6pm on 102.5 the Game and 6:30 on Fox Sports Tennessee… both media’s game coverage begins at 7pm. Some tickets remain for tonight.
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Random Notes
- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 64 points in 58 games played and are 4th in the Central Division. Nashville trails 3rd place St. Louis by a three points with two games in hand. Nashville has the first wild card slot, tonight’s opponent, Calgary has the second. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 83.9%...
- PK Subban is heating up, seven points (1g, 6a) in his last five games.
- Speaking of heat… Calle Jarnkrok has six goals in his last 10 games and is at a point-per-game over his last 11.
- The four team peloton chasing the wild card teams in the west are getting a bit closer every day… and a fifth team, left for dead may be jumping into the mix, Don’t look now, but the Arizona Coyotes have made a bit of a move.
- It was great to see and hear Dave Strader back on the Dallas Stars broadcast on Saturday. The veteran broadcaster is battling cancer
- Nine games in the NHL tonight, all times CST – 6pm – PIT @ CAR, MTL @ NYR, OTT @ NJD. 6:30pm – NYI @ DET, EDM @ TBL, WPG @ TOR. 7pm – CHI @ MIN, CGY @ NSH. 8pm – LAK @ COL.
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