It’s Game Night in Smashville as the Nashville Predators welcome their first head coach and another Eastern Conference power to town. The Washington Capitals are in Music City on a bit of a roll, winning five of their last six games led by a high powered offense and the Holt-beast.
Alex Ovechkin got off to a white hot start to the season, he’s got 13 goals already and is on a point per game scoring clip. Evgeny Kuznetsov is also on a point per game scoring pace with 19 points in 18 games. Braden Holtby is back in his normal groove, so far he’s posted a 2.35 GAA and a .927 Save Percentage and was last week’s third start of the week. The Caps are in the crazy smozzle of the Metropolitan Division just 3 points behind the (brace yourself) division leading New Jersey Devils.
How tight is the Metro? There’s a three point difference between the three way tie for second and the two way tie in the basement. It don’t get much tighter than that, but the Central is close with a five point difference between second and the basement. Nashville’s four game win streak has moved them into 3rd place, one point behind Winnipeg and seven points behind division leading St. Louis. The St. Louis lead looks big, until you note that both Winnipeg and Nashville have three games in hand on the Blues right now.
On the injury front… Pred Nation is looking to read the tea leaves regarding the return of Nick Bonino. As I write this, Bonino is still listed on IR, but classified as day-to-day. Ryan Ellis is still expected to return sometime around the Christmas holidays. Washington lists Matt Niskamen, Andre Buralovsky and Tyler Graovac on IR.
Tonight is Hockey Fights Cancer Night, the first of three this season. Tonight is focused on celebrating these valiant fighters in this battle and raising funds to assist them. These are always nights that are inspiring and touching, learning the stories of these brave warriors.
Game time is 7pm… see you tonight at the Bridge! Tonight’s game is on NBC Sports Network.
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Random Notes
- Filip Forsberg kinda likes playing his old team… he has 5 goals and 4 assists in 6 games against the Capitals.
- The Preds are looking for their first five game win streak since the 15-16 season.
- Congratulations to Paul Kariya… the first player to spend significant time in Predator colors to be inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Well deserved. - The Prodigal Pred is on fire right now… Alexander Radulov of the Dallas Stars is on an 8 game point streak, potting 5 goals and 6 assists over the last eight games.
- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit club is off until 11/15. Tolvanen has 14 goals on the season, combined with 11 assists he has 25 points in 27 games.
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------------------------------------- SlapShot Radio has an exciting season in store for our tenth anniversary. 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. Next show Wednesday night at 7pm.
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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 have opened 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.
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