On Saturday nights at Bridgestone Arena, SlapShot Radio’s photographer captures the color and the action from Smashville, so here are your Sunday Shots…
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| From Predators vs Sabres March 21, 2015 |
It’s amazing what a little rest and a little practice can do for a team. A three day break that included an off day and a couple of high tempo practices had the Nashville Predators taking the ice last night looking to get the last ten game run of the regular season off to a good start. After last night’s 3-0 win over the hapless Buffalo Sabres you can safely say “mission accomplished.… There is still plenty to be proved, but for now, enjoy it.
Was it perfect? Nope. But that doesn’t matter, the Preds were sharper, fresher and kept pouring on the pressure against a Buffalo goaltender that forgot he had an 85% save percentage and a 5.22 GAA coming into the game. Matt Hackett made 40 saves last night and still lost 3-0. Hackett improved his stats markedly last night, pulling his save percentage up over 4 points and dropping his GAA almost a full goal. Oh… and speaking of goaltenders…
Pekka Rinne was very good last night… you could see his confidence grow as play continued culminating in a third period sequence that was classic Pekka, stoning Tyler Ennis on a breakaway then flashing the leather with about a minute left, frustrating a wide open Cody Hodgson to preserve his 4th shutout of the season and first one since early December. The body language from the big Finn was better last night, his side-to-side movement, his push was much better and oh that glove! Good news indeed for Pred Nation.
Offensively, the Predators looked much better as well. The passing crisper and the shots plentiful and for the first time in quite awhile… all the offense came from forwards.
One other notable… the play of Viktor Arvidsson. The young Swede was called up after Colin Wilson went down in practice on Thursday and fit right in to the top line. Correctly recognized as the third star of the game, Arvidsson was all over the ice, creating chances and drawing quite a bit of defensive attention with his speed and sneaky shot. An excellent debut in the bigs and he may give head coach Peter Laviolette a hard time in a decision to send him back to Milwaukee.
Nashville has an off day today and practice tomorrow before welcoming the Montreal Canadiens to Smashville on Tuesday. The Tuesday night game is the first of a tough four game stretch with games against the Habs, @ Tampa, @ Washington then home against Calgary.
Here are the highlights from nhl.com …
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The SlapShot Radio Cook Off is tomorrow! Some tickets are still available as Predators forward Eric Nystrom and I will be battling it out at The Chef and I in Lenox Village on Monday night. If you have never been to The Chef and I, it is an “open kitchen… restaurant that allows you to watch the chef create your dinner! An incredible, accessible and unique experience, Eric and I will be taking over the show kitchen to compete in an “Iron Chef… like battle to win the Cup!
The Measuring Cup that is…
It’s all to raise money for the Nashville Predators Foundation and should be a lot of fun! Tickets are on sale at our EventBrite site all tickets include a three course gourmet meal prepared by Chef Chris Rains.
The judges for the evening are Dawn Davenport and Neil Orne from News 2 This Morning and Woody and Jim from 107.5 The River’s Woody and Jim Show. Please join us for all the fun, for a great cause! And by the way… you might want to check out The Chef and I’s website… they handle catering, conduct fun cooking classes and run a fantastic restaurant. Chris and Erica Rains are amazing people!
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Random Notes
- Standings update after play on 3/21 – St. Louis and Nashville are tied at the top of the Central with 96 points, St. Louis owns the tie-breakers right now. Anaheim continues to lead the conference with 99 points. The Predators are now four points front of Chicago. The Blues have one game in hand over Nashville, the Blackhawks have two.
- The Western Wild Card – Minnesota (72 games played) owns the first wild card slot with 87 points, the Winnipeg Jets (72) are in the second slot with 86 points. The LA Kings (71) are now four points behind the Jets and they trail the Calgary Flames (72) by two for the third slot in the Pacific. Colorado (71), San Jose (72) and Dallas (72) trail the Jets by six points.
- Who Should Pred Nation Root for Today? – It’s a little easier now since they are no longer in the West so Pred Nation needs to hold its collective nose and root for the Red Wings to win in regulation over St. Louis.
- The Preds got some help yesterday as both St. Louis and Chicago lost. The Blues are on the road today in Detroit, @ Pittsburgh Tuesday, then Columbus comes to St. Louis on Saturday. Chicago is off today, then play five games in the next seven days, Monday @ Carolina, Wednesday @ Philly, Friday, home vs. Columbus, then a back-to-back Sunday @ Winnipeg and Monday home vs. LA. Five in seven is tough, but the competition for Chicago is not a strong as Nashville and St. Louis has to face.
- In the East, Washington appears to have the first wild card on lock but there is a real battle brewing for the last playoff spot in the conference. Boston leads the red hot Ottawa Senators by one point and the Florida Panthers by six. Ottawa has a game in hand on both the Bruins and Panthers.
- They are having a lot of fun in Ottawa with the run that goaltender Andrew “Hamburglar… Hammond is on, their win last night is already clogging the arteries of the Sens Army as McDonald’s is giving out free hamburgers to all who attended.
- Suppose that St. Louis is regretting trading Chris Stewart? His vow to make them pay has paid off for the Minnesota Wild as they have beaten the Blues twice in the past week.
- You have to wonder if the Los Angeles Kings are running out of steam. They are now four points out of the Wild Card, their best playoff bet may be the third spot in the Pacific, they only trail Calgary for that spot by two points. The Kings are in a bad spot right now… I’m not counting them out yet, but…
- Four games in the NHL tonight – Blues @ Red Wings, Bruins @ Lightning, Ducks @ Rangers, Canucks @ Coyotes.
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