2018 Playoff hockey came to Smashville last night as the Nashville Predators took down the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in a shootout… yes, yes… I know… no shootouts in the playoffs, but last night was the kind of tough, grind it out, solid, defensively sound hockey you need in the playoffs and Pekka Rinne was one bad bounce away from his 9th shutout of the season. The win also sealed home ice advantage for round one of the playoffs.
The scoring got going early, Roman Josi, channeling his inner Russ Tyler, sent home a knuckle puck for the first goal just a little under three minutes into the game.
Then the lockdown came. The Predators put together one of their best defensive games of the season, bottling up the Wild offense, limiting shots, limiting chances and effectively counter punching as the game progressed… and you just knew the game was going to decided by one goal.
Then Eric Staal got a nice feed off of a bad bounce on a clearing attempt and managed to beat Rinne by half-an inch to pot his 40th of the year… and the teams went to overtime, where Ryan Ellis promptly ended it…
Until he didn’t… a review showed the play to be offside, the teams were recalled to the ice and play continued in overtime… nothing decided there and the teams went to a shootout where Kyle Turris was the only player who converted to give the Preds the bonus point and draw the team to within one point of the franchise record for points in a season.
A big test for the Preds as the Sharks are in town tomorrow night… should be a very good one and very limited tickets remain.
Here are the highlights…
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“Where We Stand… update… a daily tracking of where the Preds are in the standings and the games that impact them most, brought to you by Mark Lonsway - THE real estate professional for hockey fans!
After last night’s play the Predators remain first in the Central Division and the Western Conference with 109 points, leading Winnipeg (0 GIH) by five points in both races … The Predators also lead Tampa Bay (0 GIH) in the race for the Presidents’ Trophy by three points.
Impact games tonight (all times Central) – 9pm – ARI @ VGK.
Playoff seed chances - The Predators chances of top seed in the West stands at 89% after last night’s win, their chances at the President’s Trophy are at 60.9%
The Current Opponent - If the playoffs began today, the Predators would draw the number 8 seed in the second wild card position… currently the Anaheim Ducks.
Most likely first round opponent - The highest percentage goes to Colorado at 29.2%, St. Louis at 25.92%... Anaheim at 18.1%.
Teams that have punched their playoff ticket - Nashville, Tampa Bay, Boston, Winnipeg and Vegas. Playoff odds and playoff point line courtesy of SportsClubStats.com
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Random Notes
- Congratulations to Mattias Ekholm on the birth of his child yesterday morning.
- Eeli Tolvanen is slated to be flying to North America today… nothing official from the Preds but other reports have his already signing his ELC… I assume more will be coming in the next 24-48 hours.
- The Predators magic number to win the Presidents Trophy is 10… any combination of Pred points gained and Jets points lost that adds up to 10
- Next one to be eliminated… the Carolina Hurricanes … their tragic number is down to 2. Dallas’ tragic number is 5.
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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. Our next show is Saturday at 8am. We will be talking to hockey writer Adam Gretz and much, much more!
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