Well… that was interesting. Honestly, last night’s 5-4 win over the Washington Capitals at CapitalOne Arena on Wednesday Night Hockey last night could be classified as a couple of things… glass half-empty folks would call it a last gasp effort. The more positive among us would call it a sign of a turnaround… the green shoots of recovery for a team that desperately needs to get back on track.
Either one could be correct… but I do know this… I have said and will continue to say… that the Predators need to gather four out of every six possible points. So… the last three games were… win over Buffalo, loss to Toronto, win over Washington… four out of six points.
A game that saw the Predators giving… and I do mean giving… two goals that never should have happened to a team that doesn’t have problems piling on the offense. That’s a death wish… but they recovered, coming back twice from one goal deficits to take the points on the road. This could definitely be the kind of win that turns a season.
We won’t have to wait long to see how the team reacts as they are back in action tonight in New Jersey. Pred Nation is hoping that the team comes out blazing as they try to win one for their new coach, John Hynes… who just two short months ago, was behind the bench of this Devils team.
The Devils are next to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings… only Detroit’s pathetic season is preventing them from being at the bottom, they are sub-.500 at home and on the road, they have a goal differential of -46… which of course means that they will give the Preds a stiff test if this season continues to play out the way it has.
This is a classic trap game… a game sandwiched between two high powered teams as Vegas waits in the wings for a Saturday tilt in Smashville. This is a game that scares the pants off of fans of the fang. So, do the Predators continue their journey of learning, apply the fresh lessons of last night and improve the muscle memory of the new systems? Or… I shudder to think about it.
Game time is 6:30pm Central with coverage on 102.5 the Game and the second consecutive game on NBCSN.
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Where They Stand – a daily look at where the Predators are in the playoff race.
As play opens on 1/27/2020, the Nashville Predators have crawled out of the Central Division basement and are in the 11 spot in the Western Conference, a single point behind Winnipeg with 2 games-in-hand, four points out of a wild card slot with 3 games in hand over the current Wild Cards, Arizona and Saturday night’s opponent, Vegas. They trail 3rd in the Central by seven points with a game in hand over Dallas.
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Random Notes – Presented by
- Never the easy way for Nashville… two badly mishandled pucks ended up in Nashville’s net… Juuse Saros misplayed one behind his own net, and in his attempt to rectify the situation, tapped it to Alex Ovechkin for one of the easiest goals of his illustrious career…
- And… there was the own goal… a badly played puck by Nick Bonino just took a crazy path and ended up in the Preds net. Ugh…
- Gotta give the team credit though… they showed some real resilience last night.
- Kudos to the big voice of CapitalOne Arena, Wes Johnson… his read of the Kobe Bryant tribute in pre-game was simply outstanding…
- In the "go figure" department, last night was Nashville's 8th consecutive win over Washington.
- Tonight’s games – 6pm –MTL @ BUF. 6:30pm – NSH @ NJD. 8:30pm – LAK @ ARI.
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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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