It’s time for Sunday Shots… with a twist… check it out! All photos and video compilation courtesy Denise McCann Photography
The Washington Capitals cruised into Nashville leading the President’s Trophy race, winning eight of their last ten and playing with confidence. The Nashville Predators have been locked in a win one lose one cycle for what seems like forever and have ridden the great play of the JOFA line featuring simply stunning play from Filip Forsberg. Finally… for the first time since before the All-Star break, the Nashville Predators post back-to-back wins with a wholly satisfying 5-2 win over the Caps.
The Preds top line continues their hot play, posting eight more points with goals from Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson (his 20th of the season) an assist from Arvidsson, two from Forsberg and three from Ryan Johansen. Johansen’s three assist night vaulted him into the top ten in the NHL in assists, tied at 9th with Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele. But this line’s performance wasn’t the big story of the game…
The big story was the leadership, toughness and play of the captain, Mike Fisher. Scoring the game winner on a sweet tic-tac-tie play, dominating in the face off circle after a less than stellar performance Thursday night, he went 8-13 in the dot, and the fight… oh yeah. Caps winger Tom Wilson was doing everything possible to terrorize Nashville, going at it with Harry Zolnierczyk in the first, delivering big hits and a few schoolyard bully tactics that Fisher finally had enough of… delivering the fight that Wilson didn’t expect and firing up his team to finish the game with some piss and vinegar.
Fisher’s leadership has really been an untold story this season… no one makes a big deal of it but make no mistake… this is Mike Fisher’s team and they follow his lead.
Let's get to the Good the Bad and the Ugly...
The Good - Overall team win... very good performance from Juuse Saros and better defensive play overall.
The Bad - A bit of a slow start, seemed to take the Preds the first half of the first period to get going.
The Ugly - Can't think of a thing...
So, a big win for the Preds, and they have to turn around and try to do it again at 4pm today with the last regular season matchup with the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are safely ensconced in the top three of the Pacific Division… for now, but the Oilers (and Ducks for that matter) are floating a bit, 5-5-0 in their last ten and allowing the suddenly red hot Calgary Flames back into the divisional race as they trail the Oilers and Ducks by only six points.
The second half of what could be argued to be the toughest back-to-back on the schedule will be a stiff challenge for Nashville… especially against an Edmonton team that has seen limited success against Nashville over the past few seasons. This is the last game of the regular season between these two teams and the Predators are looking for a season sweep.
Edmonton is coming off a loss at Washington on Friday night, after tonight they head to St. louis then head home for games against Detroit and the New York Islanders. They are led by super soph Connor McDavid who continues to lead the league in points and we probably will see UAH alum Cam Talbot in net. For Nashville, I would expect Pekka Rinne back between the pipes. This is another key game in the dog days of the hockey season… grinding out points right now will be the separation between the contenders and the pretenders. Game time is 4pm, very limited tickets available. Game coverage begins with pregame at 3:30pm on Fox Sports Tennessee.
-------------------------------------
The latest SlapShot Radio
--------------------------------------
Random Notes
- Where We Stand – After yesterday’s play, the Nashville Predators have 69 points in 61 games played and are now 3rd in the Central Division, leading St. Louis by two points. The Blues are currently on their bye and resume play tonight. By the time St. Louis hits the ice tonight in Chicago, the Blues will have two games in hand on Nashville. Per sportsclubstats.com, the Predators playoff chances are at 86.6%
- Filip Forsberg seems to really like playing Washington, he now has five goals and four assists in five games against the Caps.
- Don’t look now… but Roman Josi is back. Last night’s two goal performance gave him 12 points in his nine games.
- Speaking of back… PK Subban has 10 points in his last eight games.
- Juuse Saros put in another solid performance last night, he has solidified his position as the Predators goaltender of the future… and that future may not be too far away.
- The second period continues to be the Predators best scoring period… they lead the NHL with 78 second period goals.
- Seven games in the NHL today, all times CST – 11:30am – BOS @ DAL. 2pm – CGY @ CAR. 4pm – EDM @ NSH, CBJ @ NYR. 6:30pm – STL @ CHI, OTT @ FLA. 7:30pm – BUF @ ARI.
------------------------------------
------------------------------------- SSR’s season nine is on, our next show is Wednesday night at 7 on 102.5 the Game. SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south and Pete Weber and I bring you the best in hockey talk all season long. We will wrap up Trade Deadline Day as only we can…
SlapShot Radio has been delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio and advertising with us drives results. Our premier sponsors include day one sponsor Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762, Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799, and TurfMasters… check out their great service at TurfMasters.com.
Advertisers… reach out to me in order to access our activated listener base though great advertising deals available when you email me at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com
You can also keep up with all the goings on with SlapShot Radio by following the show on Twitter @SlapShotRadio1 … Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the link.
-------------------------------------
KINDLE USERS: Please subscribe to Predators Buzz, a one-stop feed for all things Predators-related on HockeyBuzz. Your subscription includes a free 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month thereafter. For more informatio, click here.