The Nashville Predators avoided the trap and escaped from New Jersey with a 6-5 shootout win last night. They are snug in their own beds as I write this, secure in the knowledge that they did the thing in their two game roadie, coming home with four points and posting three wins in their last four games. Which of course has me wondering… What was the best part of these two wins?
In my mind, it is the fact that Nashville won while not playing anything near their best game. That could be concerning to some, Lord knows the nattering nabobs of negativism on Pred Twitter certainly is. But here is what they are missing… the resilience seems to be coming back for this team.
Long time observers of this team have seen it… this is a hallmark of this franchise, and something that has been sorely missing for most of the last 12 months of play. Let’s face it… the November 2019 version of this team would’ve folded after blowing leads like this team did over the past two nights. One goal deficits would’ve turned into three goal deficits in quick succession. But that is not what happened… last night was a perfect example… giving up two goals in less than two minutes looked all too familiar, but the team recovered and got back to work.
Two wins does not fix a season, but it certainly starts the repair.
February begins with some hope, so let’s take a look at what’s coming up. There are 14 games in February, eight of them in conference, five of them in division including a home-and-home back-to-back with the St. Louis Blues. The Preds have six road games and eight at home,
The month starts with a home tilt… a critical match against Vegas, one of those four point games that could see the Preds overtake the Knights in the standings, depending on what happens tonight in Carolina. Then the Predators head west for a swing through three Canadian provinces in four games, visiting Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Then the schedule takes a homeward turn as seven of the next nine are within the friendly confines of Bridgestone Arena. First it’s a Thursday night tilt against their old coach as the New York Islanders hit town, then the aforementioned matinee home-and-home with St. Louis. That second game is part of Hockey Day in America as NBC anchors their triple-header live from Smashville.
Then it's Carolina, a trip to Chicago and finishing the back-to-back on a Saturday Night in Smashville against Columbus. The month finishes with three at home, Ottawa, Calgary and Colorado.
Oh… and by the way… the trade deadline is in there as well… that is Monday Feb. 24, the day before the Ottawa game.
There will be plenty of drama in the coming weeks… stay tuned Smashville.
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Where They Stand – a daily look at where the Predators are in the playoff race.
As play opens on 1/31/2020, the Nashville Predators have jumped up to the 4 spot in the Central and the 9 spot in the Western Conference, two points behind Saturday night’s opponent Vegas and three points behind Arizona. They have two games in hand over the Golden Knights and three over the Coyotes. The Preds trail Dallas by five points and Colorado by seven in the Central
Impact games tonight – VGK @ CAR, BOS @ WPG.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- The stars of this team have been challenged and they are rising to the occasion, goals from Johansen, Duchene and two from Forsberg in the past two games.
- This was a back-to-back of crazy bounces.
- There are petitions starting online (tongue planted firmly in cheek here) to abolish the second period. I think I am in favor…
- Post game quotes talked about mental toughness… these last two games will go a long way to helping this team get back to the right mindset.
- You saw some emotion and some intensity in this roadie… almost across the lineup… that needs to continue to ramp up.
- Tonight’s games – 6pm – DET @ NYR, PHI @ PIT. 6:30pm – WSH @ OTT, VGK @ CAR. 7pm – BOS @ WPG. 8pm – STL @ EDM. 9pm – TBL @ ANA.
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SlapShot Radio is back for our 12th season as Zack, Brent and I are now on Monday night’s this season. The best hour of hockey talk on the longest running hockey show in the southeast … 7pm Mondays on 102.5 the Game.
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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