The last home game before All-Star Weekend in Smashville is upon us and the Chicago Blackhawks stand in the way of the Preds winning back-to-back games for only the second time since mid-November and the first time since Christmas. The Predators have outworked, outshot and equaled the defending Stanley Cup champs in scoring and have lost two of the three games played thus far in the season series. The Blackhawks are on a serious roll right now, winning 11 straight (five straight on the road) and taking over the lead in the Central Division. They look every bit like a Stanley Cup contender, hell… let’s call them what they are… the favorite to win it a second consecutive time.
Last Tuesday night in Chicago, the Predators got an object lesson in winning ugly as Andrew Shaw potted two lunch bucket goals by crashing the net, creating havoc and the Hawks held on for a 3-2 win over the pesky Preds who put on a furious push in the third period. The Preds are trying to get their act together and get on a roll of their own. Winning back-to-back would help before heading out on a four game Canada swing that takes the team to Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary before the All-Star break.
So… for the first time in quite a few years, Pred Nation has a big question for tonight… who gets the nod in goal? Carter Hutton is coming off of a 3-0 shutout over the Wild and Pekka Rinne is not exactly lighting the world on fire, going 2-5-1 in his past eight games. Rinne is a contrast in performance this season… at home, he is 12-5-3 with a .919 save percentage and a GAA of 2.10… respectable numbers. On the road however… 4-9-4, .833 SV% and 3.13 GAA, definitely very un-Pekka-like.
So… is this a problem with goaltending or team play? While not completely dismissing the play between the pipes, I come down on the side of team play.
Every goaltender gives up a bad goal or two or four over the course of a season, and Rinne is no exception. The difficulty here is that the team has not exactly been playing well in front of him. Defensively shaky, breakouts have not exactly been crisp, offensively challenged and the slot not being cleared as it needs to be… Rinne has covered these types of issues in the past by stealing a game or two or four, that hasn’t been the case this season.
My observation from Saturday night’s 3-0 win over Minnesota indicated one of the better defensive games this team has played all season. Hutton had very little traffic in front of him and was able to cover a couple of positional errors with acrobatics, a very solid performance from the backup and the team did an outstanding job of clearing rebounds, making sure there were very few second chance opportunities.
Oh… and a few goals didn’t hurt either.
Keep the team play solid in front of the goaltender, and suddenly these problems go away. A little more goal support, especially early in games, would also be nice.
A tough challenge awaits, whoever is in net tonight. Game time is 7pm, limited tickets remain. Coverage on the Predators Radio Network, flagship is 102.5 the Game, national TV coverage on NBCSN.
------------------------------------
I have a ticket deal for you… Click here to buy tickets for either Preds/Blues or Preds/Flyers tickets at a great discount! You must enter Brian Campbell in the Employee Referral name to get the discount.
50% Off Tickets if you use that link above…
----------------------------
Random Notes
- “Where They Stand… - Entering tonight’s play, the Nashville Predators stand 6th in the Central Division 1 point behind Colorado (2 games in hand.) The Predators trail MIN by 4 points, STL by 13 points (4 GIH) Dallas by 15 points (1 GIH) and Chicago by 18 points (3 GIH.) The Predators are currently one point out of the second wild card slot.
- Ryan Johansen has certainly been as good as advertised, posting more than a point per game since his acquisition with seven points in his first five games with the Preds.
- Congratulations to Preds assistant coach Phil Housley on being named to Team USA’s coaching staff for next season’s World Cup.
- An amazing SRO crowd showed up for the Predators special holiday open practice at Ford Ice Center yesterday.
- Colin Wilson (IR) skated some yesterday and Gabriel Bourque (IR) participated in practice as well. Still no word on return for either player, but it does appear Bourque is close.
- Congratulations to Paul Gaustad who played in his 700th NHL game Saturday.
- Eight games on the NHL schedule tonight (all start times CT) – 6pm – CAL @ NJD, VAN @ NYR, TML @ PHI, WSH @ CBJ. 6:30pm – BOS @ MTL, EDM @ TBL. 7pm – CHI @ NSH. 9pm – DAL @ LAK.
------------------------------------
------------------------------------- Season eight of SlapShot Radio is on! Join us every Wednesday night at 7 on 102.5 the Game when Pete Weber and I preview the upcoming week and take a look back at the week that was. We will take a look at the Battle of Alberta with author Mark Spector and much more this week, so tune in!
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. Nashville will be a focus to the entire league as Music City hosts the All-Star game and we’ve got room for your business to be part of the SlapShot Radio family with effective and affordable advertising packages for every budget. Advertisers… reach out to me to access our activated listener base via email at paul(@)slapshotradio(dot)com
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.
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.