The Nashville Predators in Washington, DC tonight after last night’s 4-2 dismantling of the New York Islanders. You look at the two teams last night and wonder which one had its first home game after a long western road trip. No jet lag for the Predators as they came out flying from the start and kept the pressure on, foiling what was a very good performance between the pipes for Islander goalie Thomas Greiss. Without that performance from Greiss, last night’s game is a 7-2 blowout.
The top line is now heating up… James Neal with a goal and Ryan Johansen with a goal, each with an assist to boot. Another example of this team taking advantage of the scheme being played out against them. Isles head coach Jack Capuano was dead set on stopping Craig Smith and Filip Forsberg… and they did… but while they were doing that, the first line was running wild.
Another solid game defensively, another solid effort from Pekka Rinne and another two points in the bank as the Predators creep closer to the Blackhawks for third in the division. Nashville’s 11-1-5 run in the last 17 games have put the team in solid playoff position. On the other side of the ice tonight, the Capitals have clinched their playoff spot and are looking to raise a President’s Trophy banner to the rafters of Verizon Center. They need seven more point to clinch the most points in the league this season.
When last these two teams met, the Capitals took down the Preds 5-3 at Bridgestone Arena in early February and of course, Filip Forsberg reminded the Caps of their loss, posting two goals in the loss.
Caps head coach Barry Trotz is not planning on resting his players heading into the playoffs, he wants them to improve their conditioning as the “playoffs are another animal.…
Game time is 6pm central, coverage on 102.5 the Game, Fox Sports Tennessee and the Predators Radio Network.
----------------------------
Random Notes
- “Where They Stand… – Entering tonight’s play, the Nashville Predators are 4th in the Central Division with 85 points, trailing 3rd Place Chicago by 3 points. The Predators trail 2nd place St. Louis by 6 points and 1st place Dallas by 8 points with a game in hand on each. The Predators are in the first wild card slot, leading both Colorado by nine points and Minnesota by ten points.
- Per SportsClubStats.com, the Predators playoff chances stand at 99.8% heading into tonight’s play. According to the site, finishing with 93 points or better will give the team a 99%+ chance on being in the playoffs.
- Great crowd last night at Bridgestone Arena… four game home stretch starts Monday with the LA Kings in town.
- I loved seeing the “I Love Jimmy… T-shirts at the game last night!
- Vesey Watch – Harvard is in action against St. Lawrence tonight in the semi-finals of the ECAC tournament.
- Six games in the NHL tonight, all times central – 6pm – OTT @ BUF, NSH @ WSH. 7pm – CHI @ WPG. 8:00pm – COL @ CGY, VAN @ EDM. 9pm – BOS @ ANA. ------------------------------------
------------------------------------- Season eight of SlapShot Radio is on! Join us every Wednesday night at 7 on 102.5 the Game. Pete Weber and I preview the upcoming week and take a look back at the week that was. We step aside one last time for the Eric Nystrom show and will be on Saturday morning this week at 8am.
SlapShot Radio is the longest running hockey show in the mid-south delivering great hockey talk to the most energetic and engaged fans in radio. Our premier, day one sponsor is Dr. Jane Bacon at Hermitage Family and Cosmetic Dentistry … make your appointment at (615) 872-7762. Also, our newest member of the SSR Sponsorship family is Mark Lonsway at ReMax Fine Homes, call him for all your real estate needs at (615) 207-7799.
Advertisers… reach out to me to access our activated listener base via email 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 information, click here.