After last night’s 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets, I have a suggestion for a new Nashville Predators theme song… Bonnie Raitt’s first “comeback… album from 1989 was called “Nick of Time… and contained a song called “The Road’s My Middle Name.…
I hear it callin', baby Sound so sweet and plain I gotta go 'cause the road's my middle name
The second line continued their hot play as Craig Smith potted two, the first and last goals of the game and the first line is continuing their wake up as Ryan Johansen snapped his goalless streak with a greasy goal in front. The rookies are continuing to impact this team as Head Coach Peter Laviolette played six rookies last night including the recently called up Colton Sissions, who immediately contributed an assist along with being in the right place at the right time to get the Preds second goal, just 11 seconds after Smith opened the visitor’s scoring.
No time to savor…
Here it come And it sounds so sweet and plain I gotta go 'cause the road's my middle name I gotta go 'cause the road's my middle name Oooh, I gotta go, darlin' 'cause the road's my middle name
The Predators wake up in Calgary today for the second half of this back-to-back. Starting off a road trip with two wins is always a good thing, two wins inside the division is even better. Nashville now has a stretch of eight consecutive outside the Central starting with the Flames at 8:30 tonight, a team playing out the string, going 2-9-2 over their past 13 games.
These two teams have split their two games so far this season, each team winning on the road, and tonight’s game finishes the season series. Carter Hutton is slated to be in net tonight for Nashville, expect Joni Ortio between the pipes for the Flames. The injury situation for Nashville remains stable, Nystrom and Bourque on IR, Paul Gaustad is not travelling with the team because of an upper body injury. Calgary lists Kari Ramo and Ladislav Smid on IR, defenseman Jakub Nakladal is listed as questionable because of an eye injury sustained on Saturday.
One quibble… one concern… one tiny little thing… the power play.
It seems to have gone south. Going zero for their last nine opportunities, the shots are there, but the results are not. I have often said that it is good to have something to work on while a team is on a streak like the one the Preds are on. It keeps a team from believing to much of their own press, from getting too high... and gives the coach something reasonable to stay on them about. The good news here is that the Preds will be able to get some needed practice in after this back-to-back to work on special teams.
Game time is 8:30pm, coverage on Fox Sports Tennessee, 102.5 the Game and the Predators Radio Network.
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Random Notes
- “Where They Stand… – Entering tonight’s play, the Nashville Predators are 4th in the Central Division with 80 points, trailing 3rd Place St. Louis by 5 points with a game in hand and 2nd place Chicago by 7 points. The Preds trail division leading Dallas by 8 points with a game in hand on the Stars. The Predators lead Minnesota and Colorado by 8 points with a game in hand on the Avalanche in the division. The Predators are in the first wild card slot, leading Minnesota and Colorado.
- Per SportsClubStats.com, the Predators playoff chances stand at 99.3% heading into tonight’s play.
- With last night’s win, the Predators have upped their record against Canadian teams this season to 12-1-3, gaining 27 of a possible 32 points.
- The Nashville Predators blueline leads the NHL in scoring with 166 points (44g-122a.)
- Vesey Watch – Harvard is in the ECAC Quarterfinals against Rensselaer. It is a best of three series beginning Friday with games two and three scheduled on Saturday and Sunday. The Crimson come into the tournament as the three seed behind 2 seed Yale and 1 seed Quinnipiac. The ECAC Championship is set for 3/18-19 in Lake Placid, NY. Harvard is the defending ECAC Tournament Champion.
- Chicago plays St. Louis tonight in the NBCSN’s Rivalry Night Game. Finally one that fits the title. Just root for a decision in regulation folks…
- The Dallas Stars suffered a real loss last night as Jason Demers was injured midway through the second period of their OT loss to Montreal. Immediate reaction was that Demers is gone for the season. Not good news for a team that is already missing John Klingberg and Jordie Benn with Chicago and St. Louis on the docket this weekend.
- Six games in the NHL tonight, all times central – 6pm – NYI @ TML. 7pm – CHI @ STL. 8:30pm – NSH @ CGY. 9pm – ARI @ VAN, ANA @ COL. 9:30pm – WSH @ LAK. ------------------------------------
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