I cannot remember a time where the Nashville Predators came out with as much fire as they did last night in their 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. To use two words that Jackets head coach John Tortorella used in his rather brief post game comments, they “totally overwhelmed… Columbus, putting Blue Jacket netminder Joonas Korpisalo under siege with 27 shots in the first period.
The fact that after that period the Jackets were only down 2-1 had to give them a lift… and gave Pred Nation a little heartburn. That didn’t last as the Preds potted two in the second to give the fans Frosty’s and for all intents and purposes, salted the game away.
Honestly… I was surprised that Korpisalo wasn’t named a star of the game… simply for his first period performance. If he wasn’t playing well, you were looking at a double digit scoring night from Nashville… and that is not an overstatement.
While James Neal scored his 30th, making only the second season in Predators history that the team has two 30 goal scorers… the defense made quite the contribution. Shea Weber’s Forsty goal in the second was the 164th of his career, putting him all alone in second place on the Predators all time goal scoring list and Roman Josi posted 3 assists, setting a new franchise record for assists by a blueliner in a single season and tying the franchise mark for points in a season by a defenseman.
The Predators continue their home point streak, it now stands at 10. They have the chance to improve on that tomorrow night as Colorado comes to town. Oh, and by the way… any win tomorrow night clinches the playoff for the Predators.
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Random Notes
- “Where They Stand… – Entering tonight’s play, the Nashville Predators are 4th in the Central Division with 91 points, trailing 3rd Place Chicago by 2 points. The Predators trail 2nd place St. Louis by 8 points and 1st place Dallas by 8, with a game in hand on both. The Predators are in the first wild card slot, leading Minnesota by 6 points and Colorado by 11
- Per SportsClubStats.com, the Predators playoff chances stand at 99.97% heading into tonight’s play. According to the site, finishing with 94 points or better will give the team a 99%+ chance on being in the playoffs.
- If the playoff started today… the Nashville Predators would play the LA Kings in the first round.
- Shea Weber’s power play goal last night was his 13th of the season. He leads all NHL defenseman in this category.
- The Vesey Watch – Day Two and Pred Nation is already getting nervous.
- A stat that Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch tweeted last night just floored me. Saturday’s matchup was the 41st time the Preds and Jackets have tangled at Bridgestone Arena… in those games the Jackets have only 5 regulation wins.
- Three games in the NHL today, all times central – 4pm – NJD @ CAR. 6:30pm – PIT @ NYR. 7pm – CHI @ VAN. ------------------------------------
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